It is hard to get excited after looking at ECA Integrated Solution Berhad’s (KLSE:ECA) recent performance, when its stock has declined 24% over the past three months. However, stock prices are usually driven by a company’s financial performance over the long term, which in this case looks quite promising. Particularly, we will be paying attention to ECA Integrated Solution Berhad’s ROE today.
ROE or return on equity is a useful tool to assess how effectively a company can generate returns on the investment it received from its shareholders. Put another way, it reveals the company’s success at turning shareholder investments into profits.
Check out our latest analysis for ECA Integrated Solution Berhad
How Is ROE Calculated?
Return on equity can be calculated by using the formula:
Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) ÷ Shareholders’ Equity
So, based on the above formula, the ROE for ECA Integrated Solution Berhad is:
18% = RM11m ÷ RM61m (Based on the trailing twelve months to October 2023).
The ‘return’ is the amount earned after tax over the last twelve months. Another way to think of that is that for every MYR1 worth of equity, the company was able to earn MYR0.18 in profit.
What Has ROE Got To Do With Earnings Growth?
Thus far, we have learned that ROE measures how efficiently a company is generating its profits. Depending on how much of these profits the company reinvests or “retains”, and how effectively it does so, we are then able to assess a company’s earnings growth potential. Assuming all else is equal, companies that have both a higher return on equity and higher profit retention are usually the ones that have a higher growth rate when compared to companies that don’t have the same features.
ECA Integrated Solution Berhad’s Earnings Growth And 18% ROE
At first glance, ECA Integrated Solution Berhad seems to have a decent ROE. Especially when compared to the industry average of 8.4% the company’s ROE looks pretty impressive. Probably as a result of this, ECA Integrated Solution Berhad was able to see an impressive net income growth of 32% over the last five years. We reckon that there could also be other factors at play here. Such as – high earnings retention or an efficient management in place.
As a next step, we compared ECA Integrated Solution Berhad’s net income growth with the industry, and pleasingly, we found that the growth seen by the company is higher than the average industry growth of 8.1%.
Earnings growth is an important metric to consider when valuing a stock. It’s important for an investor to know whether the market has priced in the company’s expected earnings growth (or decline). By doing so, they will have an idea if the stock is headed into clear blue waters or if swampy waters await. If you’re wondering about ECA Integrated Solution Berhad’s’s valuation, check out this gauge of its price-to-earnings ratio, as compared to its industry.
Is ECA Integrated Solution Berhad Using Its Retained Earnings Effectively?
ECA Integrated Solution Berhad doesn’t pay any dividend currently which essentially means that it has been reinvesting all of its profits into the business. This definitely contributes to the high earnings growth number that we discussed above.
Summary
Overall, we are quite pleased with ECA Integrated Solution Berhad’s performance. Specifically, we like that the company is reinvesting a huge chunk of its profits at a high rate of return. This of course has caused the company to see substantial growth in its earnings. That being so, a study of the latest analyst forecasts show that the company is expected to see a slowdown in its future earnings growth. Are these analysts expectations based on the broad expectations for the industry, or on the company’s fundamentals? Click here to be taken to our analyst’s forecasts page for the company.
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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.