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Many investors are still learning about the various metrics that can be useful when analysing a stock. This article is for those who would like to learn about Return On Equity (ROE). By way of learning-by-doing, we'll look at ROE to gain a better understanding of ReVolve Renewable Power Corp. (CVE:REVV).
Return on Equity or ROE is a test of how effectively a company is growing its value and managing investors’ money. In simpler terms, it measures the profitability of a company in relation to shareholder's equity.
Check out our latest analysis for ReVolve Renewable Power
How To Calculate Return On Equity?
The formula for ROE is:
Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) ÷ Shareholders' Equity
So, based on the above formula, the ROE for ReVolve Renewable Power is:
52% = US$2.6m ÷ US$5.0m (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2024).
The 'return' is the income the business earned over the last year. That means that for every CA$1 worth of shareholders' equity, the company generated CA$0.52 in profit.
Does ReVolve Renewable Power Have A Good Return On Equity?
One simple way to determine if a company has a good return on equity is to compare it to the average for its industry. Importantly, this is far from a perfect measure, because companies differ significantly within the same industry classification. As is clear from the image below, ReVolve Renewable Power has a better ROE than the average (8.5%) in the Renewable Energy industry.
That's clearly a positive. However, bear in mind that a high ROE doesn’t necessarily indicate efficient profit generation. A higher proportion of debt in a company's capital structure may also result in a high ROE, where the high debt levels could be a huge risk . To know the 5 risks we have identified for ReVolve Renewable Power visit our risks dashboard for free.
How Does Debt Impact Return On Equity?
Most companies need money -- from somewhere -- to grow their profits. That cash can come from issuing shares, retained earnings, or debt. In the first two cases, the ROE will capture this use of capital to grow. In the latter case, the debt used for growth will improve returns, but won't affect the total equity. In this manner the use of debt will boost ROE, even though the core economics of the business stay the same.
ReVolve Renewable Power's Debt And Its 52% ROE
It's worth noting the high use of debt by ReVolve Renewable Power, leading to its debt to equity ratio of 2.04. While no doubt that its ROE is impressive, we would have been even more impressed had the company achieved this with lower debt. Debt does bring extra risk, so it's only really worthwhile when a company generates some decent returns from it.