Oriental Interest Berhad's (KLSE:OIB) Stock's On An Uptrend: Are Strong Financials Guiding The Market?

Oriental Interest Berhad (KLSE:OIB) has had a great run on the share market with its stock up by a significant 59% over the last three months. Given that the market rewards strong financials in the long-term, we wonder if that is the case in this instance. Particularly, we will be paying attention to Oriental Interest Berhad's ROE today.

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. In short, ROE shows the profit each dollar generates with respect to its shareholder investments.

View our latest analysis for Oriental Interest Berhad

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 Oriental Interest Berhad is:

8.2% = RM46m ÷ RM562m (Based on the trailing twelve months to August 2020).

The 'return' is the income the business earned over the last year. Another way to think of that is that for every MYR1 worth of equity, the company was able to earn MYR0.08 in profit.

What Is The Relationship Between ROE And 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. Generally speaking, other things being equal, firms with a high return on equity and profit retention, have a higher growth rate than firms that don’t share these attributes.

Oriental Interest Berhad's Earnings Growth And 8.2% ROE

At first glance, Oriental Interest Berhad's ROE doesn't look very promising. Although a closer study shows that the company's ROE is higher than the industry average of 2.9% which we definitely can't overlook. This certainly adds some context to Oriental Interest Berhad's moderate 6.7% 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. So there might well be other reasons for the earnings to grow. Such as- high earnings retention or the company belonging to a high growth industry.

Given that the industry shrunk its earnings at a rate of 4.2% in the same period, the net income growth of the company is quite impressive.

Earnings growth is an important metric to consider when valuing a stock. What investors need to determine next is if the expected earnings growth, or the lack of it, is already built into the share price. Doing so will help them establish if the stock's future looks promising or ominous. Is Oriental Interest Berhad fairly valued compared to other companies? These 3 valuation measures might help you decide.

Is Oriental Interest Berhad Making Efficient Use Of Its Profits?

Oriental Interest Berhad has a healthy combination of a moderate three-year median payout ratio of 26% (or a retention ratio of 74%) 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, Oriental Interest 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.

Conclusion

In total, we are pretty happy with Oriental Interest Berhad's performance. Specifically, we like that it has been reinvesting a high portion of its profits at a moderate rate of return, resulting in earnings expansion. 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. To know the 3 risks we have identified for Oriental Interest Berhad visit our risks dashboard for free.

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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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