Comelf S.A.'s (BVB:CMF) Fundamentals Look Pretty Strong: Could The Market Be Wrong About The Stock?

Comelf (BVB:CMF) has had a rough three months with its share price down 19%. However, stock prices are usually driven by a company’s financials over the long term, which in this case look pretty respectable. Particularly, we will be paying attention to Comelf's ROE today.

Return on equity or ROE is a key measure used to assess how efficiently a company's management is utilizing the company's capital. Put another way, it reveals the company's success at turning shareholder investments into profits.

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How Is ROE Calculated?

The formula for ROE is:

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

So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Comelf is:

11% = RON9.0m ÷ RON81m (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2024).

The 'return' refers to a company's earnings over the last year. One way to conceptualize this is that for each RON1 of shareholders' capital it has, the company made RON0.11 in profit.

See our latest analysis for Comelf

Why Is ROE Important For Earnings Growth?

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

A Side By Side comparison of Comelf's Earnings Growth And 11% ROE

On the face of it, Comelf's ROE is not much to talk about. However, the fact that the its ROE is quite higher to the industry average of 6.0% doesn't go unnoticed by us. Even more so after seeing Comelf's exceptional 31% net income growth over the past five years. Bear in mind, the company does have a moderately low ROE. It is just that the industry ROE is lower. Therefore, the growth in earnings could also be the result of other factors. Such as- high earnings retention or the company belonging to a high growth industry.

As a next step, we compared Comelf'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 9.8%.

The basis for attaching value to a company is, to a great extent, tied to its earnings growth. 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 Comelf is trading on a high P/E or a low P/E, relative to its industry.

Is Comelf Using Its Retained Earnings Effectively?

Comelf's significant three-year median payout ratio of 62% (where it is retaining only 38% of its income) suggests that the company has been able to achieve a high growth in earnings despite returning most of its income to shareholders.

Besides, Comelf has been paying dividends for at least ten years or more. This shows that the company is committed to sharing profits with its shareholders.

Conclusion

Overall, we feel that Comelf certainly does have some positive factors to consider. Specifically, its respectable ROE which likely led to the considerable growth in earnings. Yet, the company is retaining a small portion of its profits. Which means that the company has been able to grow its earnings in spite of it, so that's not too bad. Until now, we have only just grazed the surface of the company's past performance by looking at the company's fundamentals. To gain further insights into Comelf's past profit growth, check out this visualization of past earnings, revenue and cash flows.

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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.