Yunnan Energy Investment Co., Ltd.'s (SZSE:002053) Fundamentals Look Pretty Strong: Could The Market Be Wrong About The Stock?

Yunnan Energy Investment (SZSE:002053) has had a rough three months with its share price down 6.7%. However, the company's fundamentals look pretty decent, and long-term financials are usually aligned with future market price movements. Specifically, we decided to study Yunnan Energy Investment's ROE in this article.

Return on equity or ROE is a key measure used to assess how efficiently a company's management is utilizing the company's capital. Simply put, it is used to assess the profitability of a company in relation to its equity capital.

Check out our latest analysis for Yunnan Energy Investment

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 Yunnan Energy Investment is:

7.7% = CN¥646m ÷ CN¥8.4b (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2024).

The 'return' refers to a company's earnings over the last year. That means that for every CN¥1 worth of shareholders' equity, the company generated CN¥0.08 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. 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.

A Side By Side comparison of Yunnan Energy Investment's Earnings Growth And 7.7% ROE

At first glance, Yunnan Energy Investment's ROE doesn't look very promising. Yet, a closer study shows that the company's ROE is similar to the industry average of 7.6%. Moreover, we are quite pleased to see that Yunnan Energy Investment's net income grew significantly at a rate of 25% over the last five years. Taking into consideration that the ROE is not particularly high, we reckon that there could also be other factors at play which could be influencing the company's growth. For example, it is possible that the company's management has made some good strategic decisions, or that the company has a low payout ratio.

Next, on comparing with the industry net income growth, we found that Yunnan Energy Investment's growth is quite high when compared to the industry average growth of 2.5% in the same period, which is great to see.

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. This then helps them determine if the stock is placed for a bright or bleak future. One good indicator of expected earnings growth is the P/E ratio which determines the price the market is willing to pay for a stock based on its earnings prospects. So, you may want to check if Yunnan Energy Investment is trading on a high P/E or a low P/E, relative to its industry.

Is Yunnan Energy Investment Efficiently Re-investing Its Profits?

Yunnan Energy Investment's ' three-year median payout ratio is on the lower side at 12% implying that it is retaining a higher percentage (88%) of its profits. So it seems like the management is reinvesting profits heavily to grow its business and this reflects in its earnings growth number.

Moreover, Yunnan Energy Investment is determined to keep sharing its profits with shareholders which we infer from its long history of paying a dividend for at least ten years.

Conclusion

Overall, we feel that Yunnan Energy Investment certainly does have some positive factors to consider. With a high rate of reinvestment, albeit at a low ROE, the company has managed to see a considerable growth in its earnings. That being so, a study of the latest analyst forecasts show that the company is expected to see a slowdown in its future earnings growth. To know more about the latest analysts predictions for the company, check out this visualization of analyst forecasts for the company.

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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.