Will Weakness in Apex Healthcare Berhad's (KLSE:AHEALTH) Stock Prove Temporary Given Strong Fundamentals?

It is hard to get excited after looking at Apex Healthcare Berhad's (KLSE:AHEALTH) recent performance, when its stock has declined 6.7% over the past three months. But if you pay close attention, you might gather that its strong financials could mean that the stock could potentially see an increase in value in the long-term, given how markets usually reward companies with good financial health. In this article, we decided to focus on Apex Healthcare Berhad's ROE.

ROE or return on equity is a useful tool to assess how effectively a company can generate returns on the investment it received from its shareholders. Simply put, it is used to assess the profitability of a company in relation to its equity capital.

See our latest analysis for Apex Healthcare Berhad

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 Apex Healthcare Berhad is:

12% = RM56m ÷ RM453m (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2020).

The 'return' refers to a company's earnings over the last year. So, this means that for every MYR1 of its shareholder's investments, the company generates a profit of MYR0.12.

What Is The Relationship Between ROE And Earnings Growth?

So far, we've learned that ROE is a measure of a company's profitability. 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.

Apex Healthcare Berhad's Earnings Growth And 12% ROE

To begin with, Apex Healthcare Berhad seems to have a respectable ROE. Further, the company's ROE compares quite favorably to the industry average of 8.2%. This probably laid the ground for Apex Healthcare Berhad's moderate 12% net income growth seen over the past five years.

As a next step, we compared Apex Healthcare Berhad'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 7.8%.

Earnings growth is a huge factor in stock valuation. What investors need to determine next is if the expected earnings growth, or the lack of it, is already built into the share price. By doing so, they will have an idea if the stock is headed into clear blue waters or if swampy waters await. If you're wondering about Apex Healthcare Berhad's's valuation, check out this gauge of its price-to-earnings ratio, as compared to its industry.

Is Apex Healthcare Berhad Using Its Retained Earnings Effectively?

Apex Healthcare Berhad has a healthy combination of a moderate three-year median payout ratio of 30% (or a retention ratio of 70%) and a respectable amount of growth in earnings as we saw above, meaning that the company has been making efficient use of its profits.

Additionally, Apex Healthcare Berhad has paid dividends over a period of at least ten years which means that the company is pretty serious about sharing its profits with shareholders. 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 29%. As a result, Apex Healthcare Berhad's ROE is not expected to change by much either, which we inferred from the analyst estimate of 13% for future ROE.

Summary

On the whole, we feel that Apex Healthcare Berhad'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. The latest industry analyst forecasts show that the company is expected to maintain its current growth rate. 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. 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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