Is Weakness In Gas Arabian Services Company (TADAWUL:4146) Stock A Sign That The Market Could be Wrong Given Its Strong Financial Prospects?

With its stock down 17% over the past three months, it is easy to disregard Gas Arabian Services (TADAWUL:4146). 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. Specifically, we decided to study Gas Arabian Services' 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. Simply put, it is used to assess the profitability of a company in relation to its equity capital.

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How Is ROE Calculated?

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 Gas Arabian Services is:

32% = ر.س138m ÷ ر.س438m (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2025).

The 'return' is the amount earned after tax over the last twelve months. That means that for every SAR1 worth of shareholders' equity, the company generated SAR0.32 in profit.

View our latest analysis for Gas Arabian Services

What Has ROE Got To Do With 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. 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.

Gas Arabian Services' Earnings Growth And 32% ROE

To begin with, Gas Arabian Services seems to have a respectable ROE. On comparing with the average industry ROE of 7.6% the company's ROE looks pretty remarkable. This certainly adds some context to Gas Arabian Services' decent 15% net income growth seen over the past five years.

As a next step, we compared Gas Arabian Services' net income growth with the industry and found that the company has a similar growth figure when compared with the industry average growth rate of 14% in the same period.

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. 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 Gas Arabian Services is trading on a high P/E or a low P/E, relative to its industry.

Is Gas Arabian Services Making Efficient Use Of Its Profits?

Gas Arabian Services has a three-year median payout ratio of 50%, which implies that it retains the remaining 50% of its profits. This suggests that its dividend is well covered, and given the decent growth seen by the company, it looks like management is reinvesting its earnings efficiently.

Besides, Gas Arabian Services has been paying dividends over a period of three years. This shows that the company is committed to sharing profits with its shareholders. Upon studying the latest analysts' consensus data, we found that the company's future payout ratio is expected to rise to 68% over the next three years. Despite the higher expected payout ratio, the company's ROE is not expected to change by much.

Summary

On the whole, we feel that Gas Arabian Services' performance has been quite good. Particularly, we like that the company is reinvesting heavily into its business, and at a high rate of return. Unsurprisingly, this has led to an impressive earnings growth. We also studied the latest analyst forecasts and found that the company's earnings growth is expected be similar to its current growth rate. To know more about the company's future earnings growth forecasts take a look at this free report on analyst forecasts for the company to find out more.

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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.