Declining Stock and Decent Financials: Is The Market Wrong About Cibox Inter@ctive (EPA:CIB)?

With its stock down 10% over the past month, it is easy to disregard Cibox Inter@ctive (EPA:CIB). But if you pay close attention, you might find that its key financial indicators look quite decent, which could mean that the stock could potentially rise in the long-term given how markets usually reward more resilient long-term fundamentals. Specifically, we decided to study Cibox Inter@ctive's ROE in this article.

Return on equity or ROE is an important factor to be considered by a shareholder because it tells them how effectively their capital is being reinvested. In other words, it is a profitability ratio which measures the rate of return on the capital provided by the company's shareholders.

Check out our latest analysis for Cibox Inter@ctive

How Do You Calculate Return On Equity?

ROE 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 Cibox Inter@ctive is:

13% = €666k ÷ €5.2m (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2020).

The 'return' is the income the business earned over the last year. That means that for every €1 worth of shareholders' equity, the company generated €0.13 in profit.

Why Is ROE Important For Earnings Growth?

Thus far, we have learned that ROE measures how efficiently a company is generating its profits. 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.

Cibox Inter@ctive's Earnings Growth And 13% ROE

To begin with, Cibox Inter@ctive seems to have a respectable ROE. Further, the company's ROE compares quite favorably to the industry average of 6.8%. As you might expect, the 35% net income decline reported by Cibox Inter@ctive is a bit of a surprise. We reckon that there could be some other factors at play here that are preventing the company's growth. For example, it could be that the company has a high payout ratio or the business has allocated capital poorly, for instance.

As a next step, we compared Cibox Inter@ctive's performance with the industry and found thatCibox Inter@ctive's performance is depressing even when compared with the industry, which has shrunk its earnings at a rate of 12% in the same period, which is a slower than the company.

The basis for attaching value to a company is, to a great extent, tied to its earnings growth. It’s important for an investor to know whether the market has priced in the company's expected earnings growth (or decline). By doing so, they will have an idea if the stock is headed into clear blue waters or if swampy waters await. Is Cibox Inter@ctive fairly valued compared to other companies? These 3 valuation measures might help you decide.

Is Cibox Inter@ctive Efficiently Re-investing Its Profits?

Conclusion

On the whole, we do feel that Cibox Inter@ctive has some positive attributes. Although, we are disappointed to see a lack of growth in earnings even in spite of a high ROE and and a high reinvestment rate. We believe that there might be some outside factors that could be having a negative impact on the business. While we won't completely dismiss the company, what we would do, is try to ascertain how risky the business is to make a more informed decision around the company. You can see the 5 risks we have identified for Cibox Inter@ctive by visiting our risks dashboard for free on our platform here.

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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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