@SirKnight In 8 years since 2008, TRS' NPAT has pretty much...

@SirKnight

In 8 years since 2008, TRS' NPAT has pretty much stayed flat while:
- the number of stores has grown from 151 in 2008 to 341 in 2016
- Sales has grown from $353 million in 2008 to $800 million in 2016
- ROE has gone down from 46% in 2008 to 12% in 2016
- NPAT margin has gone down from 4.38% in 2008 to 2.14% in 2016
- The minimum lease payment has gone up from $41.2 million in 2008 to $109 million in 2016

In my book, this is a set of very ordinary numbers.

The most worrying trend is the huge increase in the minimum lease payment. This number, although they are not listed on the balance sheet as a debt/liability, in reality it acts like one. No matter how well/bad the business performs, TRS still has to pay more than $100 million annually to landlords.

A single bad buying decision prior to Christmas can quickly turn a seemingly profitable business into a loss-making business. TRS' track record on this matter is patchy at best.

The lack of shareholdings by directors as pointed by @slc4me is a big red flag for me. There is simply zero alignment between shareholders' interests and the directors' interests.