GHL Systems Berhad's (KLSE:GHLSYS) Fundamentals Look Pretty Strong: Could The Market Be Wrong About The Stock?

With its stock down 3.3% over the past three months, it is easy to disregard GHL Systems Berhad (KLSE:GHLSYS). But if you pay close attention, you might find that its key financial indicators look quite decent, which could mean that the stock could potentially rise in the long-term given how markets usually reward more resilient long-term fundamentals. Particularly, we will be paying attention to GHL Systems Berhad's ROE today.

Return on equity or ROE is an important factor to be considered by a shareholder because it tells them how effectively their capital is being reinvested. In short, ROE shows the profit each dollar generates with respect to its shareholder investments.

Check out our latest analysis for GHL Systems Berhad

How To Calculate Return On Equity?

The formula for ROE is:

Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) ÷ Shareholders' Equity

So, based on the above formula, the ROE for GHL Systems Berhad is:

1.9% = RM9.1m ÷ RM482m (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2020).

The 'return' is the amount earned after tax over the last twelve months. One way to conceptualize this is that for each MYR1 of shareholders' capital it has, the company made MYR0.02 in profit.

What Is The Relationship Between ROE And Earnings Growth?

So far, we've learned that ROE is a measure of a company's profitability. We now need to evaluate how much profit the company reinvests or "retains" for future growth which then gives us an idea about the growth potential of the company. 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.

GHL Systems Berhad's Earnings Growth And 1.9% ROE

It is hard to argue that GHL Systems Berhad's ROE is much good in and of itself. Not just that, even compared to the industry average of 10%, the company's ROE is entirely unremarkable. Although, we can see that GHL Systems Berhad saw a modest net income growth of 7.9% over the past five years. We believe that there might be other aspects that are positively influencing the company's earnings growth. For instance, the company has a low payout ratio or is being managed efficiently.

Given that the industry shrunk its earnings at a rate of 0.9% in the same period, the net income growth of the company is quite impressive.

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. By doing so, they will have an idea if the stock is headed into clear blue waters or if swampy waters await. 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 GHL Systems Berhad is trading on a high P/E or a low P/E, relative to its industry.

Is GHL Systems Berhad Making Efficient Use Of Its Profits?

Given that GHL Systems Berhad doesn't pay any dividend to its shareholders, we infer that the company has been reinvesting all of its profits to grow its business.

Summary

On the whole, we do feel that GHL Systems Berhad has some positive attributes. Despite its low rate of return, the fact that the company reinvests a very high portion of its profits into its business, no doubt contributed to its high earnings growth. Having said that, looking at the current analyst estimates, we found that the company's earnings are expected to gain momentum. 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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