CapitaLand Investment (SGX:9CI) has had a rough three months with its share price down 16%. We decided to study the company's financials to determine if the downtrend will continue as the long-term performance of a company usually dictates market outcomes. Particularly, we will be paying attention to CapitaLand Investment's ROE today.

Return on Equity or ROE is a test of how effectively a company is growing its value and managing investors’ money. Put another way, it reveals the company's success at turning shareholder investments into profits.

Check out our latest analysis for CapitaLand Investment

How Is ROE Calculated?

The formula for ROE is:

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

So, based on the above formula, the ROE for CapitaLand Investment is:

1.9% = S$331m ÷ S$18b (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2024).

The 'return' is the profit over the last twelve months. So, this means that for every SGD1 of its shareholder's investments, the company generates a profit of SGD0.02.

What Is The Relationship Between ROE And Earnings Growth?

Thus far, we have learned that ROE measures how efficiently a company is generating its profits. 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.

A Side By Side comparison of CapitaLand Investment's Earnings Growth And 1.9% ROE

It is hard to argue that CapitaLand Investment's ROE is much good in and of itself. Even when compared to the industry average of 3.1%, the ROE figure is pretty disappointing. For this reason, CapitaLand Investment's five year net income decline of 8.1% is not surprising given its lower ROE. We believe that there also might be other aspects that are negatively influencing the company's earnings prospects. For instance, the company has a very high payout ratio, or is faced with competitive pressures.

So, as a next step, we compared CapitaLand Investment's performance against the industry and were disappointed to discover that while the company has been shrinking its earnings, the industry has been growing its earnings at a rate of 1.3% over the last few years.

SGX:9CI Past Earnings Growth January 23rd 2025

The basis for attaching value to a company is, to a great extent, tied to its earnings growth. The investor should try to establish if the expected growth or decline in earnings, whichever the case may be, is priced in. Doing so will help them establish if the stock's future looks promising or ominous. If you're wondering about CapitaLand Investment's's valuation, check out this gauge of its price-to-earnings ratio, as compared to its industry.

Is CapitaLand Investment Efficiently Re-investing Its Profits?

With a high three-year median payout ratio of 75% (implying that 25% of the profits are retained), most of CapitaLand Investment's profits are being paid to shareholders, which explains the company's shrinking earnings. With only very little left to reinvest into the business, growth in earnings is far from likely. Our risks dashboard should have the 3 risks we have identified for CapitaLand Investment.

In addition, CapitaLand Investment has been paying dividends over a period of three years suggesting that keeping up dividend payments is preferred by the management even though earnings have been in decline. 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 72%. However, CapitaLand Investment's ROE is predicted to rise to 5.8% despite there being no anticipated change in its payout ratio.

Conclusion

On the whole, CapitaLand Investment's performance is quite a big let-down. As a result of its low ROE and lack of much reinvestment into the business, the company has seen a disappointing earnings growth rate. That being so, the latest industry analyst forecasts show that the analysts are expecting to see a huge improvement in the company's earnings growth rate. To know more about the company's future earnings growth forecasts take a look at this free report on analyst forecasts for the company to find out more.