Sime Darby Berhad's (KLSE:SIME) stock is up by a considerable 12% over the past three months. We wonder if and what role the company's financials play in that price change as a company's long-term fundamentals usually dictate market outcomes. In this article, we decided to focus on Sime Darby Berhad's ROE.

Return on equity or ROE is a key measure used to assess how efficiently a company's management is utilizing the company's capital. In other words, it is a profitability ratio which measures the rate of return on the capital provided by the company's shareholders.

Check out our latest analysis for Sime Darby Berhad

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 Sime Darby Berhad is:

7.7% = RM1.8b ÷ RM24b (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2023).

The 'return' is the amount earned after tax over the last twelve months. That means that for every MYR1 worth of shareholders' equity, the company generated MYR0.08 in profit.

What Has ROE Got To Do With Earnings Growth?

We have already established that ROE serves as an efficient profit-generating gauge for a company's future earnings. Based on how much of its profits the company chooses to reinvest or "retain", we are then able to evaluate a company's future ability to generate profits. Assuming all else is equal, companies that have both a higher return on equity and higher profit retention are usually the ones that have a higher growth rate when compared to companies that don't have the same features.

A Side By Side comparison of Sime Darby Berhad's Earnings Growth And 7.7% ROE

On the face of it, Sime Darby Berhad's ROE is not much to talk about. However, its ROE is similar to the industry average of 7.7%, so we won't completely dismiss the company. Having said that, Sime Darby Berhad has shown a modest net income growth of 11% over the past five years. Taking into consideration that the ROE is not particularly high, we reckon that there could also be other factors at play which could be influencing the company's growth. For example, it is possible that the company's management has made some good strategic decisions, or that the company has a low payout ratio.

Given that the industry shrunk its earnings at a rate of 0.2% over the last few years, the net income growth of the company is quite impressive.

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). Doing so will help them establish if the stock's future looks promising or ominous. Is Sime Darby Berhad fairly valued compared to other companies? These 3 valuation measures might help you decide.

Is Sime Darby Berhad Making Efficient Use Of Its Profits?

While Sime Darby Berhad has a three-year median payout ratio of 66% (which means it retains 34% of profits), the company has still seen a fair bit of earnings growth in the past, meaning that its high payout ratio hasn't hampered its ability to grow.

Additionally, Sime Darby Berhad has paid dividends over a period of at least ten years which means that the company is pretty serious about sharing its profits with shareholders. Our latest analyst data shows that the future payout ratio of the company over the next three years is expected to be approximately 59%. Therefore, the company's future ROE is also not expected to change by much with analysts predicting an ROE of 8.9%.

Conclusion

On the whole, we do feel that Sime Darby Berhad has some positive attributes. Namely, its high earnings growth. We do however feel that the earnings growth number could have been even higher, had the company been reinvesting more of its earnings and paid out less dividends. Having said that, the company's earnings growth is expected to slow down, as forecasted in the current analyst estimates. To know more about the latest analysts predictions for the company, check out this visualization of analyst forecasts for the company.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. 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.