Cambridge Technology Enterprises Limited's (NSE:CTE) Financials Are Too Obscure To Link With Current Share Price Momentum: What's In Store For the Stock?

Cambridge Technology Enterprises (NSE:CTE) has had a great run on the share market with its stock up by a significant 74% over the last three months. But the company's key financial indicators appear to be differing across the board and that makes us question whether or not the company's current share price momentum can be maintained. Specifically, we decided to study Cambridge Technology Enterprises' ROE in this article.

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.

See our latest analysis for Cambridge Technology Enterprises

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 Cambridge Technology Enterprises is:

13% = ₹103m ÷ ₹807m (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2020).

The 'return' is the yearly profit. So, this means that for every ₹1 of its shareholder's investments, the company generates a profit of ₹0.13.

What Has ROE Got To Do With Earnings Growth?

We have already established that ROE serves as an efficient profit-generating gauge for a company's future earnings. 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 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.

Cambridge Technology Enterprises' Earnings Growth And 13% ROE

On the face of it, Cambridge Technology Enterprises' ROE is not much to talk about. Yet, a closer study shows that the company's ROE is similar to the industry average of 11%. Still, Cambridge Technology Enterprises has seen a flat net income growth over the past five years. Bear in mind, the company's ROE is not very high. So that could also be one of the reasons behind the company's flat growth in earnings.

Next, on comparing with the industry net income growth, we found that the industry grew its earnings by13% 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. If you're wondering about Cambridge Technology Enterprises''s valuation, check out this gauge of its price-to-earnings ratio, as compared to its industry.

Is Cambridge Technology Enterprises Efficiently Re-investing Its Profits?

Cambridge Technology Enterprises doesn't pay any dividend, meaning that the company is keeping all of its profits, which makes us wonder why it is retaining its earnings if it can't use them to grow its business. It looks like there might be some other reasons to explain the lack in that respect. For example, the business could be in decline.

Conclusion

Overall, we have mixed feelings about Cambridge Technology Enterprises. While the company does have a high rate of profit retention, its low rate of return is probably hampering its earnings growth. Up till now, we've only made a short study of the company's growth data. To gain further insights into Cambridge Technology Enterprises' past profit growth, check out this visualization of past earnings, revenue and cash flows.

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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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