With its stock down 22% over the past three months, it is easy to disregard Prime Intelligence Solutions Group (HKG:8379). We, however decided to study the company's financials to determine if they have got anything to do with the price decline. Long-term fundamentals are usually what drive market outcomes, so it's worth paying close attention. Specifically, we decided to study Prime Intelligence Solutions Group's ROE in this article.

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. In simpler terms, it measures the profitability of a company in relation to shareholder's equity.

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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 Prime Intelligence Solutions Group is:

7.7% = HK$1.6m ÷ HK$20m (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2025).

The 'return' is the yearly profit. That means that for every HK$1 worth of shareholders' equity, the company generated HK$0.08 in profit.

Check out our latest analysis for Prime Intelligence Solutions Group

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.

Prime Intelligence Solutions Group's Earnings Growth And 7.7% ROE

At first glance, Prime Intelligence Solutions Group's ROE doesn't look very promising. However, its ROE is similar to the industry average of 7.8%, so we won't completely dismiss the company. But then again, Prime Intelligence Solutions Group's five year net income shrunk at a rate of 11%. Remember, the company's ROE is a bit low to begin with. Therefore, the decline in earnings could also be the result of this.

As a next step, we compared Prime Intelligence Solutions Group's performance with the industry and found thatPrime Intelligence Solutions Group's performance is depressing even when compared with the industry, which has shrunk its earnings at a rate of 0.7% in the same period, which is a slower than the company.

Earnings growth is an important metric to consider when valuing a stock. The investor should try to establish if the expected growth or decline in earnings, whichever the case may be, is priced in. By doing so, they will have an idea if the stock is headed into clear blue waters or if swampy waters await. Is Prime Intelligence Solutions Group fairly valued compared to other companies? These 3 valuation measures might help you decide.

Is Prime Intelligence Solutions Group Making Efficient Use Of Its Profits?

Prime Intelligence Solutions Group doesn't pay any regular dividends, meaning that the company is keeping all of its profits, which makes us wonder why it is retaining its earnings if it can't use them to grow its business. So there might be other factors at play here which could potentially be hampering growth. For example, the business has faced some headwinds.

Summary

On the whole, we feel that the performance shown by Prime Intelligence Solutions Group can be open to many interpretations. While the company does have a high rate of reinvestment, the low ROE means that all that reinvestment is not reaping any benefit to its investors, and moreover, its having a negative impact on the earnings growth. Wrapping up, we would proceed with caution with this company and one way of doing that would be to look at the risk profile of the business. You can see the 2 risks we have identified for Prime Intelligence Solutions Group by visiting our risks dashboard for free on our platform here.

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.