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Duty Free International (SGX:5SO) has had a rough three months with its share price down 12%. We decided to study the company's financials to determine if the downtrend will continue as the long-term performance of a company usually dictates market outcomes. Specifically, we decided to study Duty Free International's ROE in this article.
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. Simply put, it is used to assess the profitability of a company in relation to its equity capital.
View our latest analysis for Duty Free International
How Do You Calculate Return On Equity?
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 Duty Free International is:
4.7% = RM16m ÷ RM346m (Based on the trailing twelve months to November 2023).
The 'return' refers to a company's earnings over the last year. Another way to think of that is that for every SGD1 worth of equity, the company was able to earn SGD0.05 in profit.
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. 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 Duty Free International's Earnings Growth And 4.7% ROE
When you first look at it, Duty Free International's ROE doesn't look that attractive. A quick further study shows that the company's ROE doesn't compare favorably to the industry average of 14% either. Therefore, it might not be wrong to say that the five year net income decline of 22% seen by Duty Free International was probably the result of it having a lower ROE. We reckon that there could also be other factors at play here. For instance, the company has a very high payout ratio, or is faced with competitive pressures.
However, when we compared Duty Free International's growth with the industry we found that while the company's earnings have been shrinking, the industry has seen an earnings growth of 23% in the same period. This is quite worrisome.
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. Doing so will help them establish if the stock's future looks promising or ominous. Is Duty Free International fairly valued compared to other companies? These 3 valuation measures might help you decide.