Shang Hai Ya Tong Co.,Ltd.'s (SHSE:600692) Financials Are Too Obscure To Link With Current Share Price Momentum: What's In Store For the Stock?

Shang Hai Ya TongLtd's (SHSE:600692) stock is up by a considerable 10% over the past week. But the company's key financial indicators appear to be differing across the board and that makes us question whether or not the company's current share price momentum can be maintained. Specifically, we decided to study Shang Hai Ya TongLtd'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. Simply put, it is used to assess the profitability of a company in relation to its equity capital.

Check out our latest analysis for Shang Hai Ya TongLtd

How Do You 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 Shang Hai Ya TongLtd is:

1.1% = CN¥16m ÷ CN¥1.4b (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2024).

The 'return' is the profit over the last twelve months. So, this means that for every CN¥1 of its shareholder's investments, the company generates a profit of CN¥0.01.

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. Assuming everything else remains unchanged, the higher the ROE and profit retention, the higher the growth rate of a company compared to companies that don't necessarily bear these characteristics.

Shang Hai Ya TongLtd's Earnings Growth And 1.1% ROE

It is hard to argue that Shang Hai Ya TongLtd's ROE is much good in and of itself. Not just that, even compared to the industry average of 3.9%, the company's ROE is entirely unremarkable. Given the circumstances, the significant decline in net income by 23% seen by Shang Hai Ya TongLtd over the last five years is not surprising. However, there could also be other factors causing the earnings to decline. For instance, the company has a very high payout ratio, or is faced with competitive pressures.

As a next step, we compared Shang Hai Ya TongLtd's performance with the industry and found thatShang Hai Ya TongLtd's performance is depressing even when compared with the industry, which has shrunk its earnings at a rate of 11% 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. Doing so will help them establish if the stock's future looks promising or ominous. If you're wondering about Shang Hai Ya TongLtd's's valuation, check out this gauge of its price-to-earnings ratio, as compared to its industry.

Is Shang Hai Ya TongLtd Using Its Retained Earnings Effectively?

Shang Hai Ya TongLtd doesn't pay any regular dividends, meaning that potentially all of its profits are being reinvested in the business, which doesn't explain why the company's earnings have shrunk if it is retaining all of its profits. So there could be some other explanations in that regard. For instance, the company's business may be deteriorating.

Conclusion

Overall, we have mixed feelings about Shang Hai Ya TongLtd. 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. To know the 2 risks we have identified for Shang Hai Ya TongLtd visit our risks dashboard for free.

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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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com