China South Publishing & Media Group Co., Ltd's (SHSE:601098) Stock Been Rising: Are Strong Financials Guiding The Market?

Most readers would already know that China South Publishing & Media Group's (SHSE:601098) stock increased by 9.2% over the past three months. Since the market usually pay for a company’s long-term financial health, we decided to study the company’s fundamentals to see if they could be influencing the market. Specifically, we decided to study China South Publishing & Media 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. Simply put, it is used to assess the profitability of a company in relation to its equity capital.

See our latest analysis for China South Publishing & Media Group

How To Calculate Return On Equity?

The formula for ROE is:

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

So, based on the above formula, the ROE for China South Publishing & Media Group is:

11% = CN¥1.8b ÷ CN¥16b (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2024).

The 'return' is the yearly profit. Another way to think of that is that for every CN¥1 worth of equity, the company was able to earn CN¥0.11 in profit.

Why Is ROE Important For Earnings Growth?

So far, we've learned that ROE is a measure of a company's profitability. 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. 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.

China South Publishing & Media Group's Earnings Growth And 11% ROE

To begin with, China South Publishing & Media Group seems to have a respectable ROE. Especially when compared to the industry average of 5.4% the company's ROE looks pretty impressive. This certainly adds some context to China South Publishing & Media Group's decent 6.4% net income growth seen over the past five years.

We then compared China South Publishing & Media Group'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 2.3% in the same 5-year period.

Earnings growth is an important metric to consider when valuing a stock. 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. 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 China South Publishing & Media Group is trading on a high P/E or a low P/E, relative to its industry.

Is China South Publishing & Media Group Making Efficient Use Of Its Profits?

China South Publishing & Media Group has a significant three-year median payout ratio of 73%, meaning that it is left with only 27% to reinvest into its business. This implies that the company has been able to achieve decent earnings growth despite returning most of its profits to shareholders.

Moreover, China South Publishing & Media Group 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.

Summary

Overall, we are quite pleased with China South Publishing & Media Group's performance. We are particularly impressed by the considerable earnings growth posted by the company, which was likely backed by its high ROE. While the company is paying out most of its earnings as dividends, it has been able to grow its earnings in spite of it, so that's probably a good sign. With that said, the latest industry analyst forecasts reveal that the company's earnings growth is expected to slow down. Are these analysts expectations based on the broad expectations for the industry, or on the company's fundamentals? Click here to be taken to our analyst's forecasts page 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.