Is Koh Young Technology Inc.'s (KOSDAQ:098460) Recent Price Movement Underpinned By Its Weak Fundamentals?

Koh Young Technology (KOSDAQ:098460) has had a rough three months with its share price down 28%. We, however decided to study the company's financials to determine if they have got anything to do with the price decline. Long-term fundamentals are usually what drive market outcomes, so it's worth paying close attention. Specifically, we decided to study Koh Young Technology's 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. In short, ROE shows the profit each dollar generates with respect to its shareholder investments.

Check out our latest analysis for Koh Young Technology

How Do You Calculate Return On Equity?

Return on equity 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 Koh Young Technology is:

6.4% = ₩20b ÷ ₩314b (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 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 ₩0.06 in profit.

Why Is ROE Important For Earnings Growth?

Thus far, we have learned that ROE measures how efficiently a company is generating its profits. 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.

Koh Young Technology's Earnings Growth And 6.4% ROE

When you first look at it, Koh Young Technology's ROE doesn't look that attractive. Yet, a closer study shows that the company's ROE is similar to the industry average of 7.1%. However, Koh Young Technology has seen a flattish net income growth over the past five years, which is not saying much. Remember, the company's ROE is not particularly great to begin with. So that could also be one of the reasons behind the company's flat growth in earnings.

We then compared Koh Young Technology's net income growth with the industry and found that the average industry growth rate was 11% in the same 5-year 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 Koh Young Technology is trading on a high P/E or a low P/E, relative to its industry.

Is Koh Young Technology Efficiently Re-investing Its Profits?

Koh Young Technology's low three-year median payout ratio of 25%, (meaning the company retains75% of profits) should mean that the company is retaining most of its earnings and consequently, should see higher growth than it has reported.

Moreover, Koh Young Technology has been paying dividends for eight years, which is a considerable amount of time, suggesting that management must have perceived that the shareholders prefer dividends over earnings growth. Our latest analyst data shows that the future payout ratio of the company over the next three years is expected to be approximately 26%. However, Koh Young Technology's ROE is predicted to rise to 11% despite there being no anticipated change in its payout ratio.

Conclusion

On the whole, we feel that the performance shown by Koh Young Technology can be open to many interpretations. While the company does have a high rate of reinvestment, the low ROE means that all that reinvestment is not reaping any benefit to its investors, and moreover, its having a negative impact on the earnings growth. With that said, we studied the latest analyst forecasts and found that while the company has shrunk its earnings in the past, analysts expect its earnings to grow in the future. 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.