Has Information Technology Total Services Co., Ltd's (GTSM:6697) Impressive Stock Performance Got Anything to Do With Its Fundamentals?

Most readers would already be aware that Information Technology Total Services' (GTSM:6697) stock increased significantly by 9.0% over the past month. Given that stock prices are usually aligned with a company's financial performance in the long-term, we decided to study its financial indicators more closely to see if they had a hand to play in the recent price move. Particularly, we will be paying attention to Information Technology Total Services' ROE today.

Return on Equity or ROE is a test of how effectively a company is growing its value and managing investors’ money. Simply put, it is used to assess the profitability of a company in relation to its equity capital.

Check out our latest analysis for Information Technology Total Services

How Do You Calculate Return On Equity?

ROE 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 Information Technology Total Services is:

13% = NT$65m ÷ NT$517m (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2020).

The 'return' is the income the business earned over the last year. One way to conceptualize this is that for each NT$1 of shareholders' capital it has, the company made NT$0.13 in profit.

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.

Information Technology Total Services' Earnings Growth And 13% ROE

At first glance, Information Technology Total Services seems to have a decent ROE. Even when compared to the industry average of 15% the company's ROE looks quite decent. This probably goes some way in explaining Information Technology Total Services' moderate 10% growth over the past five years amongst other factors.

We then compared Information Technology Total Services' net income growth with the industry and found that the company's growth figure is lower than the average industry growth rate of 19% in the same period, which is a bit concerning.

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. 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 Information Technology Total Services is trading on a high P/E or a low P/E, relative to its industry.

Is Information Technology Total Services Making Efficient Use Of Its Profits?

Information Technology Total Services has a significant three-year median payout ratio of 83%, meaning that it is left with only 17% to reinvest into its business. This implies that the company has been able to achieve decent earnings growth despite returning most of its profits to shareholders.

While Information Technology Total Services has seen growth in its earnings, it only recently started to pay a dividend. It is most likely that the company decided to impress new and existing shareholders with a dividend.

Conclusion

Overall, we feel that Information Technology Total Services certainly does have some positive factors to consider. Its earnings growth is decent, and the high ROE does contribute to that growth. However, investors could have benefitted even more from the high ROE, had the company been reinvesting more of its earnings. So far, we've only made a quick discussion around the company's earnings growth. So it may be worth checking this free detailed graph of Information Technology Total Services' past earnings, as well as revenue and cash flows to get a deeper insight into the company's performance.

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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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