Could The Market Be Wrong About AIA Group Limited (HKG:1299) Given Its Attractive Financial Prospects?

With its stock down 9.7% over the past three months, it is easy to disregard AIA Group (HKG:1299). However, a closer look at its sound financials might cause you to think again. Given that fundamentals usually drive long-term market outcomes, the company is worth looking at. Particularly, we will be paying attention to AIA Group's ROE today.

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 short, ROE shows the profit each dollar generates with respect to its shareholder investments.

See our latest analysis for AIA 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 AIA Group is:

12% = US$6.9b ÷ US$59b (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2021).

The 'return' is the yearly profit. So, this means that for every HK$1 of its shareholder's investments, the company generates a profit of HK$0.12.

What Is The Relationship Between ROE And 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.

AIA Group's Earnings Growth And 12% ROE

To start with, AIA Group's ROE looks acceptable. Even when compared to the industry average of 11% the company's ROE looks quite decent. This certainly adds some context to AIA Group's moderate 8.6% net income growth seen over the past five years.

Next, on comparing AIA Group's net income growth with the industry, we found that the company's reported growth is similar to the industry average growth rate of 9.9% in the same period.

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). Doing so will help them establish if the stock's future looks promising or ominous. Is 1299 fairly valued? This infographic on the company's intrinsic value has everything you need to know.

Is AIA Group Using Its Retained Earnings Effectively?

With a three-year median payout ratio of 36% (implying that the company retains 64% of its profits), it seems that AIA Group is reinvesting efficiently in a way that it sees respectable amount growth in its earnings and pays a dividend that's well covered.

Additionally, AIA Group has paid dividends over a period of at least ten years which means that the company is pretty serious about sharing its profits with shareholders. Upon studying the latest analysts' consensus data, we found that the company is expected to keep paying out approximately 41% of its profits over the next three years. As a result, AIA Group's ROE is not expected to change by much either, which we inferred from the analyst estimate of 11% for future ROE.

Summary

Overall, we are quite pleased with AIA Group's 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. Having said that, looking at the current analyst estimates, we found that the company's earnings are expected to gain momentum. 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.

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.

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