Is Clariant Chemicals (India) Limited's (NSE:CLNINDIA) Recent Stock Performance Influenced By Its Fundamentals In Any Way?

Most readers would already be aware that Clariant Chemicals (India)'s (NSE:CLNINDIA) stock increased significantly by 15% over the past three months. We wonder if and what role the company's financials play in that price change as a company's long-term fundamentals usually dictate market outcomes. In this article, we decided to focus on Clariant Chemicals (India)'s ROE.

Return on Equity or ROE is a test of how effectively a company is growing its value and managing investors’ money. Put another way, it reveals the company's success at turning shareholder investments into profits.

View our latest analysis for Clariant Chemicals (India)

How Is ROE Calculated?

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 Clariant Chemicals (India) is:

40% = ₹2.0b ÷ ₹5.0b (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 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 ₹0.40 in profit.

What Is The Relationship Between ROE And Earnings Growth?

So far, we've learned that ROE is a measure of a company's profitability. 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. 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.

Clariant Chemicals (India)'s Earnings Growth And 40% ROE

Firstly, we acknowledge that Clariant Chemicals (India) has a significantly high ROE. Secondly, even when compared to the industry average of 12% the company's ROE is quite impressive. As you might expect, the 50% net income decline reported by Clariant Chemicals (India) doesn't bode well with us. Based on this, we feel that there might be other reasons which haven't been discussed so far in this article that could be hampering 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.

However, when we compared Clariant Chemicals (India)'s growth with the industry we found that while the company's earnings have been shrinking, the industry has seen an earnings growth of 15% in the same period. This is quite worrisome.

The basis for attaching value to a company is, to a great extent, tied to its earnings growth. The investor should try to establish if the expected growth or decline in earnings, whichever the case may be, is priced in. This then helps them determine if the stock is placed for a bright or bleak future. Is Clariant Chemicals (India) fairly valued compared to other companies? These 3 valuation measures might help you decide.

Is Clariant Chemicals (India) Efficiently Re-investing Its Profits?

Clariant Chemicals (India) has a high three-year median payout ratio of 53% (that is, it is retaining 47% of its profits). This suggests that the company is paying most of its profits as dividends to its shareholders. This goes some way in explaining why its earnings have been shrinking. With only a little being reinvested into the business, earnings growth would obviously be low or non-existent. You can see the 3 risks we have identified for Clariant Chemicals (India) by visiting our risks dashboard for free on our platform here.

Additionally, Clariant Chemicals (India) has paid dividends over a period of at least ten years, which means that the company's management is determined to pay dividends even if it means little to no earnings growth.

Summary

Overall, we feel that Clariant Chemicals (India) certainly does have some positive factors to consider. Yet, the low earnings growth is a bit concerning, especially given that the company has a high rate of return. Investors could have benefitted from the high ROE, had the company been reinvesting more of its earnings. As discussed earlier, the company is retaining a small portion of its profits. Up till now, we've only made a short study of the company's growth data. So it may be worth checking this free detailed graph of Clariant Chemicals (India)'s past earnings, as well as revenue and cash flows to get a deeper insight into the company's performance.

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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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