Is Discovery Africa Limited's(ASX:DAF) Recent Stock Performance Tethered To Its Strong Fundamentals?

Most readers would already be aware that Discovery Africa's (ASX:DAF) stock increased significantly by 19% over the past month. Since the market usually pay for a company’s long-term fundamentals, we decided to study the company’s key performance indicators to see if they could be influencing the market. Specifically, we decided to study Discovery Africa's ROE in this article.

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.

View our latest analysis for Discovery Africa

How To Calculate Return On Equity?

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 Discovery Africa is:

75% = AU$1.6m ÷ AU$2.1m (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2020).

The 'return' refers to a company's earnings over the last year. One way to conceptualize this is that for each A$1 of shareholders' capital it has, the company made A$0.75 in profit.

What Is The Relationship Between ROE And Earnings Growth?

We have already established that ROE serves as an efficient profit-generating gauge for a company's future earnings. Depending on how much of these profits the company reinvests or "retains", and how effectively it does so, we are then able to assess a company’s earnings growth potential. 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.

Discovery Africa's Earnings Growth And 75% ROE

Firstly, we acknowledge that Discovery Africa has a significantly high ROE. Second, a comparison with the average ROE reported by the industry of 13% also doesn't go unnoticed by us. Under the circumstances, Discovery Africa's considerable five year net income growth of 44% was to be expected.

We then compared Discovery Africa'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 32% in the same 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. Doing so will help them establish if the stock's future looks promising or ominous. If you're wondering about Discovery Africa's's valuation, check out this gauge of its price-to-earnings ratio, as compared to its industry.

Is Discovery Africa Efficiently Re-investing Its Profits?

Summary

On the whole, we feel that Discovery Africa's performance has been quite good. Particularly, we like that the company is reinvesting heavily into its business, and at a high rate of return. Unsurprisingly, this has led to an impressive earnings growth. If the company continues to grow its earnings the way it has, that could have a positive impact on its share price given how earnings per share influence long-term share prices. Not to forget, share price outcomes are also dependent on the potential risks a company may face. So it is important for investors to be aware of the risks involved in the business. To know the 4 risks we have identified for Discovery Africa visit our risks dashboard for free.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. 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.
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