Can Kewal Kiran Clothing Limited (NSE:KKCL) Performance Keep Up Given Its Mixed Bag Of Fundamentals?

Kewal Kiran Clothing's (NSE:KKCL) stock is up by 4.5% over the past three months. However, we decided to study the company's mixed-bag of fundamentals to assess what this could mean for future share prices, as stock prices tend to be aligned with a company's long-term financial performance. Specifically, we decided to study Kewal Kiran Clothing'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. In other words, it is a profitability ratio which measures the rate of return on the capital provided by the company's shareholders.

See our latest analysis for Kewal Kiran Clothing

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 Kewal Kiran Clothing is:

12% = ₹501m ÷ ₹4.3b (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2020).

The 'return' is the amount earned after tax over the last twelve months. One way to conceptualize this is that for each ₹1 of shareholders' capital it has, the company made ₹0.12 in profit.

What Has ROE Got To Do With 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. 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.

Kewal Kiran Clothing's Earnings Growth And 12% ROE

When you first look at it, Kewal Kiran Clothing's ROE doesn't look that attractive. However, the fact that the its ROE is quite higher to the industry average of 5.8% doesn't go unnoticed by us. However, Kewal Kiran Clothing has seen a flattish net income growth over the past five years, which is not saying much. Bear in mind, the company does have a slightly low ROE. It is just that the industry ROE is lower. Therefore, the low to flat growth in earnings could also be the result of this.

As a next step, we compared Kewal Kiran Clothing's net income growth with the industry and were disappointed to see that the company's growth is lower than the industry average growth of 13% in the same period.

Earnings growth is a huge factor in stock valuation. It’s important for an investor to know whether the market has priced in the company's expected earnings growth (or decline). This then helps them determine if the stock is placed for a bright or bleak future. Has the market priced in the future outlook for KKCL? You can find out in our latest intrinsic value infographic research report.

Is Kewal Kiran Clothing Efficiently Re-investing Its Profits?

Kewal Kiran Clothing has a high three-year median payout ratio of 68% (or a retention ratio of 32%), meaning that the company is paying most of its profits as dividends to its shareholders. This does go some way in explaining why there's been no growth in its earnings.

In addition, Kewal Kiran Clothing has been paying dividends over a period of at least ten years suggesting that keeping up dividend payments is way more important to the management even if it comes at the cost of business growth.

Conclusion

Overall, we have mixed feelings about Kewal Kiran Clothing. Primarily, we are disappointed to see a lack of growth in earnings even in spite of a moderate ROE. Bear in mind, the company reinvests a small portion of its profits, which explains the lack of growth. With that said, the latest industry analyst forecasts reveal that the company's earnings are expected to accelerate. To know more about the company's future earnings growth forecasts take a look at this free report on analyst forecasts for the company to find out more.

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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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