Most readers would already know that Sinotruk (Hong Kong)'s (HKG:3808) stock increased by 8.5% over the past three months. As most would know, long-term fundamentals have a strong correlation with market price movements, so we decided to look at the company's key financial indicators today to determine if they have any role to play in the recent price movement. In this article, we decided to focus on Sinotruk (Hong Kong)'s ROE.

Return on equity or ROE is an important factor to be considered by a shareholder because it tells them how effectively their capital is being reinvested. In simpler terms, it measures the profitability of a company in relation to shareholder's equity.

See our latest analysis for Sinotruk (Hong Kong)

How Is ROE Calculated?

The formula for return on equity is:

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

So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Sinotruk (Hong Kong) is:

14% = CN¥6.8b ÷ CN¥48b (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 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$0.14 in profit.

Why Is ROE Important For Earnings Growth?

We have already established that ROE serves as an efficient profit-generating gauge for a company's future earnings. Based on how much of its profits the company chooses to reinvest or "retain", we are then able to evaluate a company's future ability to generate profits. 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 Sinotruk (Hong Kong)'s Earnings Growth And 14% ROE

To start with, Sinotruk (Hong Kong)'s ROE looks acceptable. And on comparing with the industry, we found that the the average industry ROE is similar at 12%. However, while Sinotruk (Hong Kong) has a pretty respectable ROE, its five year net income decline rate was 2.6% . So, there might be some other aspects that could explain this. These include low earnings retention or poor allocation of capital.

So, as a next step, we compared Sinotruk (Hong Kong)'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 8.9% over the last few years.

Earnings growth is a huge factor in stock valuation. 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. Has the market priced in the future outlook for 3808? You can find out in our latest intrinsic value infographic research report.

Is Sinotruk (Hong Kong) Making Efficient Use Of Its Profits?

Despite having a normal three-year median payout ratio of 48% (where it is retaining 52% of its profits), Sinotruk (Hong Kong) has seen a decline in earnings as we saw above. So there could be some other explanations in that regard. For instance, the company's business may be deteriorating.

Additionally, Sinotruk (Hong Kong) has paid dividends over a period of at least ten years, which means that the company's management is determined to pay dividends even if it means little to no earnings growth. Upon studying the latest analysts' consensus data, we found that the company is expected to keep paying out approximately 52% of its profits over the next three years. Accordingly, forecasts suggest that Sinotruk (Hong Kong)'s future ROE will be 15% which is again, similar to the current ROE.

Conclusion

Overall, we feel that Sinotruk (Hong Kong) certainly does have some positive factors to consider. However, given the high ROE and high profit retention, we would expect the company to be delivering strong earnings growth, but that isn't the case here. This suggests that there might be some external threat to the business, that's hampering its growth. Having said that, looking at current analyst estimates, we found that the company's earnings growth rate is expected to see a huge improvement. To know more about the latest analysts predictions for the company, check out this visualization of analyst forecasts 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.