Is Metro Brands Limited's (NSE:METROBRAND) Recent Stock Performance Tethered To Its Strong Fundamentals?

Metro Brands (NSE:METROBRAND) has had a great run on the share market with its stock up by a significant 11% over the last week. Given that the market rewards strong financials in the long-term, we wonder if that is the case in this instance. Specifically, we decided to study Metro Brands' ROE in this article.

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.

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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 Metro Brands is:

21% = ₹4.1b ÷ ₹20b (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2024).

The 'return' refers to a company's earnings over the last year. Another way to think of that is that for every ₹1 worth of equity, the company was able to earn ₹0.21 in profit.

See our latest analysis for Metro Brands

Why Is ROE Important For 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.

Metro Brands' Earnings Growth And 21% ROE

To begin with, Metro Brands seems to have a respectable ROE. Especially when compared to the industry average of 11% the company's ROE looks pretty impressive. This probably laid the ground for Metro Brands' significant 22% net income growth seen over the past five years. We believe that there might also be other aspects that are positively influencing the company's earnings growth. For example, it is possible that the company's management has made some good strategic decisions, or that the company has a low payout ratio.

Next, on comparing with the industry net income growth, we found that Metro Brands' reported growth was lower than the industry growth of 33% over the last few years, which is not something we like to see.

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 Metro Brands is trading on a high P/E or a low P/E, relative to its industry.

Is Metro Brands Using Its Retained Earnings Effectively?

Metro Brands' three-year median payout ratio is a pretty moderate 32%, meaning the company retains 68% of its income. So it seems that Metro Brands is reinvesting efficiently in a way that it sees impressive growth in its earnings (discussed above) and pays a dividend that's well covered.

Moreover, Metro Brands is determined to keep sharing its profits with shareholders which we infer from its long history of three years of paying a dividend. Based on the latest analysts' estimates, we found that the company's future payout ratio over the next three years is expected to hold steady at 26%. Therefore, the company's future ROE is also not expected to change by much with analysts predicting an ROE of 21%.

Summary

In total, we are pretty happy with Metro Brands' performance. Specifically, we like that the company is reinvesting a huge chunk of its profits at a high rate of return. This of course has caused the company to see a good amount of growth in its earnings. With that said, the latest industry analyst forecasts reveal that the company's earnings growth is expected to slow down. To know more about the latest analysts predictions for the company, check out this visualization of analyst forecasts for the company.

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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.