In This Article:
Most readers would already be aware that 1Spatial's (LON:SPA) stock increased significantly by 15% over the past three months. 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. In this article, we decided to focus on 1Spatial's ROE.
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 simpler terms, it measures the profitability of a company in relation to shareholder's equity.
See our latest analysis for 1Spatial
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 1Spatial is:
1.2% = UK£177k ÷ UK£15m (Based on the trailing twelve months to January 2022).
The 'return' is the amount earned after tax over the last twelve months. One way to conceptualize this is that for each £1 of shareholders' capital it has, the company made £0.01 in profit.
What Has ROE Got To Do With Earnings Growth?
So far, we've learned that ROE is a measure of a company's profitability. 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.
A Side By Side comparison of 1Spatial's Earnings Growth And 1.2% ROE
It is quite clear that 1Spatial's ROE is rather low. Even when compared to the industry average of 9.6%, the ROE figure is pretty disappointing. However, we we're pleasantly surprised to see that 1Spatial grew its net income at a significant rate of 67% in the last five years. We reckon that there could be other factors at play here. For instance, the company has a low payout ratio or is being managed efficiently.
Next, on comparing with the industry net income growth, we found that 1Spatial's growth is quite high when compared to the industry average growth of 25% in the same period, which is great to see.
Earnings growth is a huge factor in stock valuation. It’s important for an investor to know whether the market has priced in the company's expected earnings growth (or decline). By doing so, they will have an idea if the stock is headed into clear blue waters or if swampy waters await. Is SPA fairly valued? This infographic on the company's intrinsic value has everything you need to know.