Do Its Financials Have Any Role To Play In Driving Windlas Biotech Limited's (NSE:WINDLAS) Stock Up Recently?

Windlas Biotech (NSE:WINDLAS) has had a great run on the share market with its stock up by a significant 18% over the last month. 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. Particularly, we will be paying attention to Windlas Biotech'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. Simply put, it is used to assess the profitability of a company in relation to its equity capital.

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How Do You Calculate Return On Equity?

The formula for return on equity is:

Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) ÷ Shareholders' Equity

So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Windlas Biotech is:

13% = ₹617m ÷ ₹4.7b (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2024).

The 'return' is the profit over the last twelve months. One way to conceptualize this is that for each ₹1 of shareholders' capital it has, the company made ₹0.13 in profit.

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What Is The Relationship Between ROE And 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.

Windlas Biotech's Earnings Growth And 13% ROE

When you first look at it, Windlas Biotech's ROE doesn't look that attractive. Yet, a closer study shows that the company's ROE is similar to the industry average of 12%. Particularly, the exceptional 26% net income growth seen by Windlas Biotech over the past five years is pretty remarkable. Given the slightly low ROE, it is likely that there could be some other aspects that are driving this growth. Such as - high earnings retention or an efficient management in place.

As a next step, we compared Windlas Biotech's net income growth with the industry and found that the company has a similar growth figure when compared with the industry average growth rate of 25% in the same period.

Earnings growth is a huge factor in stock valuation. 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. 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 Windlas Biotech is trading on a high P/E or a low P/E, relative to its industry.

Is Windlas Biotech Using Its Retained Earnings Effectively?

Windlas Biotech's three-year median payout ratio to shareholders is 19%, which is quite low. This implies that the company is retaining 81% of its profits. So it seems like the management is reinvesting profits heavily to grow its business and this reflects in its earnings growth number.

Besides, Windlas Biotech has been paying dividends over a period of three years. This shows that the company is committed to sharing profits with its shareholders.

Conclusion

On the whole, we do feel that Windlas Biotech has some positive attributes. With a high rate of reinvestment, albeit at a low ROE, the company has managed to see a considerable growth in its earnings. While we won't completely dismiss the company, what we would do, is try to ascertain how risky the business is to make a more informed decision around the company. Our risks dashboard will have the 1 risk we have identified for Windlas Biotech.

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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.