Jade Bird Fire (SZSE:002960) has had a rough three months with its share price down 6.7%. However, stock prices are usually driven by a company's financial performance over the long term, which in this case looks quite promising. Specifically, we decided to study Jade Bird Fire'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. In other words, it is a profitability ratio which measures the rate of return on the capital provided by the company's shareholders.

View our latest analysis for Jade Bird Fire

How Is ROE Calculated?

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 Jade Bird Fire is:

10% = CN¥650m ÷ CN¥6.2b (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2023).

The 'return' refers to a company's earnings over the last year. Another way to think of that is that for every CN¥1 worth of equity, the company was able to earn CN¥0.10 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 everything else remains unchanged, the higher the ROE and profit retention, the higher the growth rate of a company compared to companies that don't necessarily bear these characteristics.

Jade Bird Fire's Earnings Growth And 10% ROE

At first glance, Jade Bird Fire's ROE doesn't look very promising. However, the fact that the its ROE is quite higher to the industry average of 6.5% doesn't go unnoticed by us. This probably goes some way in explaining Jade Bird Fire's moderate 15% growth over the past five years amongst other factors. That being said, the company does have a slightly low ROE to begin with, just that it is higher than the industry average. Hence there might be some other aspects that are causing earnings to grow. E.g the company has a low payout ratio or could belong to a high growth industry.

We then compared Jade Bird Fire's net income growth with the industry and we're pleased to see that the company's growth figure is higher when compared with the industry which has a growth rate of 11% in the same 5-year period.

Earnings growth is an important metric to consider when valuing a stock. It's important for an investor to know whether the market has priced in the company's expected earnings growth (or decline). By doing so, they will have an idea if the stock is headed into clear blue waters or if swampy waters await. What is 002960 worth today? The intrinsic value infographic in our free research report helps visualize whether 002960 is currently mispriced by the market.

Is Jade Bird Fire Using Its Retained Earnings Effectively?

Jade Bird Fire's three-year median payout ratio to shareholders is 25% (implying that it retains 75% of its income), which is on the lower side, so it seems like the management is reinvesting profits heavily to grow its business.

Besides, Jade Bird Fire has been paying dividends over a period of four years. This shows that the company is committed to sharing profits with its shareholders.

Summary

On the whole, we feel that Jade Bird Fire's performance has been quite good. Specifically, we like that it has been reinvesting a high portion of its profits at a moderate rate of return, resulting in earnings expansion. Having said that, looking at the current analyst estimates, we found that the company's earnings are expected to gain momentum. 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.