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China Oriental Group Company Limited (SEHK:581) delivered an ROE of 34.62% over the past 12 months, which is an impressive feat relative to its industry average of 9.35% during the same period. Superficially, this looks great since we know that 581 has generated big profits with little equity capital; however, ROE doesn’t tell us how much 581 has borrowed in debt. We’ll take a closer look today at factors like financial leverage to determine whether 581’s ROE is actually sustainable. See our latest analysis for China Oriental Group
Breaking down Return on Equity
Return on Equity (ROE) is a measure of China Oriental Group’s profit relative to its shareholders’ equity. It essentially shows how much the company can generate in earnings given the amount of equity it has raised. Generally speaking, a higher ROE is preferred; however, there are other factors we must also consider before making any conclusions.
Return on Equity = Net Profit ÷ Shareholders Equity
ROE is measured against cost of equity in order to determine the efficiency of China Oriental Group’s equity capital deployed. Its cost of equity is 8.46%. Given a positive discrepancy of 26.16% between return and cost, this indicates that China Oriental Group pays less for its capital than what it generates in return, which is a sign of capital efficiency. ROE can be split up into three useful ratios: net profit margin, asset turnover, and financial leverage. This is called the Dupont Formula:
Dupont Formula
ROE = profit margin × asset turnover × financial leverage
ROE = (annual net profit ÷ sales) × (sales ÷ assets) × (assets ÷ shareholders’ equity)
ROE = annual net profit ÷ shareholders’ equity
Essentially, profit margin shows how much money the company makes after paying for all its expenses. Asset turnover reveals how much revenue can be generated from China Oriental Group’s asset base. The most interesting ratio, and reflective of sustainability of its ROE, is financial leverage. Since ROE can be artificially increased through excessive borrowing, we should check China Oriental Group’s historic debt-to-equity ratio. Currently the debt-to-equity ratio stands at a low 16.91%, which means its above-average ROE is driven by its ability to grow its profit without a significant debt burden.
Next Steps:
ROE is one of many ratios which meaningfully dissects financial statements, which illustrates the quality of a company. China Oriental Group’s above-industry ROE is encouraging, and is also in excess of its cost of equity. ROE is not likely to be inflated by excessive debt funding, giving shareholders more conviction in the sustainability of high returns. Although ROE can be a useful metric, it is only a small part of diligent research.