Is Gushengtang Holdings Limited's (HKG:2273) Stock's Recent Performance Being Led By Its Attractive Financial Prospects?

Most readers would already be aware that Gushengtang Holdings' (HKG:2273) stock increased significantly by 14% over the past week. Given the company's impressive performance, we decided to study its financial indicators more closely as a company's financial health over the long-term usually dictates market outcomes. In this article, we decided to focus on Gushengtang Holdings' ROE.

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. In simpler terms, it measures the profitability of a company in relation to shareholder's equity.

View our latest analysis for Gushengtang Holdings

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 Gushengtang Holdings is:

11% = CN¥267m ÷ CN¥2.3b (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2024).

The 'return' is the amount earned after tax over the last twelve months. Another way to think of that is that for every HK$1 worth of equity, the company was able to earn HK$0.11 in profit.

Why Is ROE Important For 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 Gushengtang Holdings' Earnings Growth And 11% ROE

To begin with, Gushengtang Holdings seems to have a respectable ROE. Especially when compared to the industry average of 8.7% the company's ROE looks pretty impressive. Probably as a result of this, Gushengtang Holdings was able to see an impressive net income growth of 69% over the last five years. We reckon that there could also be other factors at play here. 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.

As a next step, we compared Gushengtang Holdings' net income growth with the industry, and pleasingly, we found that the growth seen by the company is higher than the average industry growth of 6.9%.

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. If you're wondering about Gushengtang Holdings''s valuation, check out this gauge of its price-to-earnings ratio, as compared to its industry.

Is Gushengtang Holdings Using Its Retained Earnings Effectively?

Gushengtang Holdings doesn't pay any regular dividends to its shareholders, meaning that the company has been reinvesting all of its profits into the business. This is likely what's driving the high earnings growth number discussed above.

Summary

Overall, we are quite pleased with Gushengtang Holdings' performance. 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. With that said, the latest industry analyst forecasts reveal that the company's earnings growth is expected to slow down. 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.