Declining Stock and Solid Fundamentals: Is The Market Wrong About MSC Co., Ltd. (KOSDAQ:009780)?

It is hard to get excited after looking at MSC's (KOSDAQ:009780) recent performance, when its stock has declined 7.0% over the past week. However, a closer look at its sound financials might cause you to think again. Given that fundamentals usually drive long-term market outcomes, the company is worth looking at. Particularly, we will be paying attention to MSC's ROE today.

Return on Equity or ROE is a test of how effectively a company is growing its value and managing investors’ money. In other words, it is a profitability ratio which measures the rate of return on the capital provided by the company's shareholders.

Check out our latest analysis for MSC

How To 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 MSC is:

12% = ₩11b ÷ ₩99b (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2020).

The 'return' refers to a company's earnings over the last year. One way to conceptualize this is that for each ₩1 of shareholders' capital it has, the company made ₩0.12 in profit.

What Has ROE Got To Do With 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.

MSC's Earnings Growth And 12% ROE

On the face of it, MSC's ROE is not much to talk about. However, the fact that the company's ROE is higher than the average industry ROE of 8.1%, is definitely interesting. This certainly adds some context to MSC's moderate 14% net income growth seen over the past five years. That being said, the company does have a slightly low ROE to begin with, just that it is higher than the industry average. Hence there might be some other aspects that are causing earnings to grow. Such as- high earnings retention or the company belonging to a high growth industry.

As a next step, we compared MSC'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 7.7%.

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

Is MSC Using Its Retained Earnings Effectively?

In MSC's case, its respectable earnings growth can probably be explained by its low three-year median payout ratio of 9.2% (or a retention ratio of 91%), which suggests that the company is investing most of its profits to grow its business.

Moreover, MSC is determined to keep sharing its profits with shareholders which we infer from its long history of three years of paying a dividend.

Conclusion

Overall, we are quite pleased with MSC's performance. In particular, it's great to see that the company has seen significant growth in its earnings backed by a respectable ROE and a high reinvestment rate. If the company continues to grow its earnings the way it has, that could have a positive impact on its share price given how earnings per share influence long-term share prices. Not to forget, share price outcomes are also dependent on the potential risks a company may face. So it is important for investors to be aware of the risks involved in the business. Our risks dashboard would have the 2 risks we have identified for MSC.

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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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