Ucal Fuel Systems Limited (NSE:UCALFUEL) Stock Is Going Strong But Fundamentals Look Uncertain: What Lies Ahead ?

Ucal Fuel Systems (NSE:UCALFUEL) has had a great run on the share market with its stock up by a significant 32% over the last three months. However, we wonder if the company's inconsistent financials would have any adverse impact on the current share price momentum. Particularly, we will be paying attention to Ucal Fuel Systems' ROE today.

Return on equity or ROE is a key measure used to assess how efficiently a company's management is utilizing the company's capital. Simply put, it is used to assess the profitability of a company in relation to its equity capital.

Check out our latest analysis for Ucal Fuel Systems

How To Calculate Return On Equity?

Return on equity 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 Ucal Fuel Systems is:

7.0% = ₹218m ÷ ₹3.1b (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2020).

The 'return' refers to a company's earnings over the last year. One way to conceptualize this is that for each ₹1 of shareholders' capital it has, the company made ₹0.07 in profit.

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. Depending on how much of these profits the company reinvests or "retains", and how effectively it does so, we are then able to assess a company’s earnings growth potential. Assuming all else is equal, companies that have both a higher return on equity and higher profit retention are usually the ones that have a higher growth rate when compared to companies that don't have the same features.

Ucal Fuel Systems' Earnings Growth And 7.0% ROE

It is quite clear that Ucal Fuel Systems' ROE is rather low. Further, we noted that the company's ROE is similar to the industry average of 6.5%. Therefore, it might not be wrong to say that the five year net income decline of 22% seen by Ucal Fuel Systems was possibly a result of the disappointing ROE.

As a next step, we compared Ucal Fuel Systems' performance with the industry and found thatUcal Fuel Systems' performance is depressing even when compared with the industry, which has shrunk its earnings at a rate of 0.8% 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). 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 Ucal Fuel Systems is trading on a high P/E or a low P/E, relative to its industry.

Is Ucal Fuel Systems Using Its Retained Earnings Effectively?

While the company did payout a portion of its dividend in the past, it currently doesn't pay a dividend. This implies that potentially all of its profits are being reinvested in the business.

Conclusion

On the whole, we feel that the performance shown by Ucal Fuel Systems can be open to many interpretations. 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. Our risks dashboard would have the 4 risks we have identified for Ucal Fuel Systems.

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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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