With its stock down 7.2% over the past month, it is easy to disregard Hangzhou SF Intra-city Industrial (HKG:9699). However, stock prices are usually driven by a company’s financials over the long term, which in this case look pretty respectable. In this article, we decided to focus on Hangzhou SF Intra-city Industrial's ROE.

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 short, ROE shows the profit each dollar generates with respect to its shareholder investments.

Check out our latest analysis for Hangzhou SF Intra-city Industrial

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 Hangzhou SF Intra-city Industrial is:

2.8% = CN¥82m ÷ CN¥2.9b (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2024).

The 'return' is the income the business earned over the last year. That means that for every HK$1 worth of shareholders' equity, the company generated HK$0.03 in profit.

What Has ROE Got To Do With Earnings Growth?

So far, we've learned that ROE is a measure of a company's profitability. 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. Generally speaking, other things being equal, firms with a high return on equity and profit retention, have a higher growth rate than firms that don’t share these attributes.

Hangzhou SF Intra-city Industrial's Earnings Growth And 2.8% ROE

It is hard to argue that Hangzhou SF Intra-city Industrial's ROE is much good in and of itself. Not just that, even compared to the industry average of 7.6%, the company's ROE is entirely unremarkable. In spite of this, Hangzhou SF Intra-city Industrial was able to grow its net income considerably, at a rate of 59% in the last five years. We believe that there might be other aspects that are positively influencing the company's earnings growth. For instance, the company has a low payout ratio or is being managed efficiently.

We then compared Hangzhou SF Intra-city Industrial's net income growth with the industry and we're pleased to see that the company's growth figure is higher when compared with the industry which has a growth rate of 7.2% in the same 5-year period.

Earnings growth is a huge factor in stock valuation. What investors need to determine next is if the expected earnings growth, or the lack of it, is already built into the share price. This then helps them determine if the stock is placed for a bright or bleak future. What is 9699 worth today? The intrinsic value infographic in our free research report helps visualize whether 9699 is currently mispriced by the market.

Is Hangzhou SF Intra-city Industrial Using Its Retained Earnings Effectively?

Given that Hangzhou SF Intra-city Industrial doesn't pay any regular dividends to its shareholders, we infer that the company has been reinvesting all of its profits to grow its business.

Conclusion

Overall, we feel that Hangzhou SF Intra-city Industrial certainly does have some positive factors to consider. Despite its low rate of return, the fact that the company reinvests a very high portion of its profits into its business, no doubt contributed to its high earnings growth. The latest industry analyst forecasts show that the company is expected to maintain its current 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.

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