Is Hanwha Ocean Co., Ltd.'s (KRX:042660) Stock's Recent Performance Being Led By Its Attractive Financial Prospects?

Hanwha Ocean's (KRX:042660) stock is up by a considerable 19% over the past three months. Given that the market rewards strong financials in the long-term, we wonder if that is the case in this instance. In this article, we decided to focus on Hanwha Ocean's ROE.

Return on Equity or ROE is a test of how effectively a company is growing its value and managing investors’ money. In simpler terms, it measures the profitability of a company in relation to shareholder's equity.

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How Do You Calculate Return On Equity?

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 Hanwha Ocean is:

17% = ₩869b ÷ ₩5.2t (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2025).

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 ₩0.17 in profit.

See our latest analysis for Hanwha Ocean

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. 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.

Hanwha Ocean's Earnings Growth And 17% ROE

To start with, Hanwha Ocean's ROE looks acceptable. Especially when compared to the industry average of 5.9% the company's ROE looks pretty impressive. Probably as a result of this, Hanwha Ocean was able to see an impressive net income growth of 32% over the last five years. However, there could also be other causes behind this 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.

As a next step, we compared Hanwha Ocean's net income growth with the industry, and pleasingly, we found that the growth seen by the company is higher than the average industry growth of 19%.

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). By doing so, they will have an idea if the stock is headed into clear blue waters or if swampy waters await. Is Hanwha Ocean fairly valued compared to other companies? These 3 valuation measures might help you decide.

Is Hanwha Ocean Using Its Retained Earnings Effectively?

Given that Hanwha Ocean doesn't pay any regular dividends to its shareholders, we infer that the company has been reinvesting all of its profits to grow its business.

Summary

On the whole, we feel that Hanwha Ocean's performance has been quite good. In particular, it's great to see that the company is investing heavily into its business and along with a high rate of return, that has resulted in a sizeable growth in its earnings. Having said that, the company's earnings growth is expected to slow down, as forecasted in the current analyst estimates. Are these analysts expectations based on the broad expectations for the industry, or on the company's fundamentals? Click here to be taken to our analyst's forecasts page 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.