Are these the best small-cap shares for growth investors?

Royston Wild discusses the earnings outlook of two small-cap stars.

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Arrow Global Group (LSE: ARW) remains on course to break November’s record tops above 300p per share as deleveraging by European banks continues to drive business volumes sky high.

Arrow Global announced in November that total revenues detonated 37% during January-September, to ÂŁ164.4m. And market appetite for the firm continues to fizzle as it follows through on its aim of “becoming Europe’s leading purchaser and manager of debt” — just last month the business entered the Italian market with the acquisition of Zenith for an enterprise value of €17m.

Against this backcloth the City expects the debt collector to keep punching explosive earnings growth for the foreseeable future, and predicts a 31% advance in 2016 to be followed by a 28% rise in the current period.

Consequently Arrow Global deals on a P/E ratio of nine times for the current period, falling below the bargain-basement benchmark of 10 times. Furthermore, a sub-1 PEG readout of 0.3 underlines the company’s exceptional value credentials.

Constructing corking growth

I also believe a healthy US construction market should help deliver resplendent earnings expansion at Tyman (LSE: TYMN) long into the future.

The number crunchers certainly expect the bottom line to keep swelling in the medium term, and have forecast a 15% rise for 2017, following on from an anticipated 12% rise last year. This results in a P/E ratio of just 11.5 times for the current year, as well as a PEG readout of 0.8.

And there’s good cause for such optimism. Latest construction data from across the Pond showed project spending up 0.9% in November, to $1.18trn, the highest since April 2006. And the strong industry upswing is expected to persist through 2017 at least as the US economic revival continues.

But the US isn’t the only bright spot for door-and-window-parts-builder Tyman, the company noting in November that “encouraging growth has continued in European markets and volumes have held up in UK and Irish markets.”

Build a fortune

And I reckon Tyman’s construction counterpart Severfield (LSE: SFR) is on course to deliver solid earnings growth too.

Despite concerns over the impact of Brexit on the construction sector, Severfield continues to rack up new business at an impressive rate. Indeed, Severfield’s order book clocked in at six-year peaks as of November, at £315m, providing the firm with terrific earnings visibility.

And Severfield’s presence in India also provides plenty of revenue opportunities. The company’s JSW Severfield Structures joint venture secured £29m worth of contracts just last month to build a variety of commercial and industrial structures. And the amount of business is likely to keep rising as the Indian economy booms.

The City has pencilled-in a 35% earnings advance at Severfield for the year to March 2017, creating a very-appealing P/E ratio of 15 times. And an anticipated 16% bottom-line charge in fiscal 2018 drives the multiple to a much-improved 12.9 times.

Moreover, PEG numbers of 0.4 and 0.8 for 2017 and 2018 highlight its exceptional value relative to its likely growth trajectory.

RISK WARNING: should you invest, the value of your investment may rise or fall and your capital is at risk. Before investing, your individual circumstances should be assessed. Consider taking independent financial advice. The Motley Fool believes in building wealth through long-term investing and so we do not promote or encourage high-risk activities including day trading, CFDs, spread betting, cryptocurrencies, and forex. Where we promote an affiliate partner’s brokerage products, these are focused on the trading of readily releasable securities.

Royston Wild has no position in any shares mentioned. The Motley Fool UK has no position in any of the shares mentioned. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors.

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