Most readers would already be aware that Pentamaster International's (HKG:1665) stock increased significantly by 40% over the past three months. We wonder if and what role the company's financials play in that price change as a company's long-term fundamentals usually dictate market outcomes. Particularly, we will be paying attention to Pentamaster International's ROE today.

Return on equity or ROE is a key measure used to assess how efficiently a company's management is utilizing the company's capital. In other words, it is a profitability ratio which measures the rate of return on the capital provided by the company's shareholders.

Check out our latest analysis for Pentamaster International

How To Calculate Return On Equity?

The formula for ROE is:

Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) ÷ Shareholders' Equity

So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Pentamaster International is:

13% = RM123m ÷ RM910m (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2024).

The 'return' is the profit over the last twelve months. That means that for every HK$1 worth of shareholders' equity, the company generated HK$0.13 in profit.

What Has ROE Got To Do With Earnings Growth?

We have already established that ROE serves as an efficient profit-generating gauge for a company's future earnings. We now need to evaluate how much profit the company reinvests or "retains" for future growth which then gives us an idea about the growth potential of the company. 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.

Pentamaster International's Earnings Growth And 13% ROE

At first glance, Pentamaster International seems to have a decent ROE. Especially when compared to the industry average of 7.1% the company's ROE looks pretty impressive. Yet, Pentamaster International has posted measly growth of 2.8% over the past five years. This is generally not the case as when a company has a high rate of return it should usually also have a high earnings growth rate. A few likely reasons why this could happen is that the company could have a high payout ratio or the business has allocated capital poorly, for instance.

We then compared Pentamaster International's net income growth with the industry and found that the company's growth figure is lower than the average industry growth rate of 12% in the same 5-year period, which is a bit concerning.

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). This then helps them determine if the stock is placed for a bright or bleak future. What is 1665 worth today? The intrinsic value infographic in our free research report helps visualize whether 1665 is currently mispriced by the market.

Is Pentamaster International Efficiently Re-investing Its Profits?

Pentamaster International has a low three-year median payout ratio of 20% (meaning, the company keeps the remaining 80% of profits) which means that the company is retaining more of its earnings. However, the low earnings growth number doesn't reflect this fact. So there could be some other explanation in that regard. For instance, the company's business may be deteriorating.

Moreover, Pentamaster International has been paying dividends for six years, which is a considerable amount of time, suggesting that management must have perceived that the shareholders prefer dividends over earnings growth. Based on the latest analysts' estimates, we found that the company's future payout ratio over the next three years is expected to hold steady at 20%. As a result, Pentamaster International's ROE is not expected to change by much either, which we inferred from the analyst estimate of 14% for future ROE.

Conclusion

On the whole, we do feel that Pentamaster International has some positive attributes. Although, we are disappointed to see a lack of growth in earnings even in spite of a high ROE and and a high reinvestment rate. We believe that there might be some outside factors that could be having a negative impact on the business. Having said that, looking at the current analyst estimates, we found that the company's earnings are expected to gain momentum. 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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.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.