Guizhou Wire Rope's (SHSE:600992) stock is up by a considerable 18% over the past week. However, we decided to pay attention to the company's fundamentals which don't appear to give a clear sign about the company's financial health. Particularly, we will be paying attention to Guizhou Wire Rope's ROE today.

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.

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 Guizhou Wire Rope is:

2.2% = CN¥33m ÷ CN¥1.5b (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2024).

The 'return' is the yearly profit. Another way to think of that is that for every CN¥1 worth of equity, the company was able to earn CN¥0.02 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. 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. 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 Guizhou Wire Rope's Earnings Growth And 2.2% ROE

As you can see, Guizhou Wire Rope's ROE looks pretty weak. Not just that, even compared to the industry average of 7.7%, the company's ROE is entirely unremarkable. Therefore, the disappointing ROE therefore provides a background to Guizhou Wire Rope's very little net income growth of 2.1% over the past five years.

As a next step, we compared Guizhou Wire Rope's net income growth with the industry and were disappointed to see that the company's growth is lower than the industry average growth of 12% in the same period.

Earnings growth is an important metric to consider when valuing a stock. What investors need to determine next is if the expected earnings growth, or the lack of it, is already built into the share price. By doing so, they will have an idea if the stock is headed into clear blue waters or if swampy waters await. Is Guizhou Wire Rope fairly valued compared to other companies? These 3 valuation measures might help you decide.

Is Guizhou Wire Rope Using Its Retained Earnings Effectively?

While Guizhou Wire Rope has a decent three-year median payout ratio of 29% (or a retention ratio of 71%), it has seen very little growth in earnings. Therefore, there might be some other reasons to explain the lack in that respect. For example, the business could be in decline.

Moreover, Guizhou Wire Rope has been paying dividends for at least ten years or more suggesting that management must have perceived that the shareholders prefer dividends over earnings growth.

Summary

In total, we're a bit ambivalent about Guizhou Wire Rope's performance. While the company does have a high rate of profit retention, its low rate of return is probably hampering its earnings growth.

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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.