WCON Electronics (Guangdong) (SZSE:301328) has had a rough three months with its share price down 31%. However, the company's fundamentals look pretty decent, and long-term financials are usually aligned with future market price movements. Specifically, we decided to study WCON Electronics (Guangdong)'s ROE in this article.

Return on Equity or ROE is a test of how effectively a company is growing its value and managing investors' money. In other words, it is a profitability ratio which measures the rate of return on the capital provided by the company's shareholders.

How To 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 WCON Electronics (Guangdong) is:

6.9% = CN¥132m ÷ CN¥1.9b (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2023).

The 'return' is the income the business earned over the last year. One way to conceptualize this is that for each CN¥1 of shareholders' capital it has, the company made CN¥0.07 in profit.

What Is The Relationship Between ROE And 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.

WCON Electronics (Guangdong)'s Earnings Growth And 6.9% ROE

When you first look at it, WCON Electronics (Guangdong)'s ROE doesn't look that attractive. However, given that the company's ROE is similar to the average industry ROE of 6.7%, we may spare it some thought. Particularly, the exceptional 26% net income growth seen by WCON Electronics (Guangdong) over the past five years is pretty remarkable. Considering the moderately low ROE, it is quite possible that there might be some other aspects that are positively influencing the company's earnings growth. Such as - high earnings retention or an efficient management in place.

Next, on comparing with the industry net income growth, we found that WCON Electronics (Guangdong)'s growth is quite high when compared to the industry average growth of 11% in the same period, which is great to see.

The basis for attaching value to a company is, to a great extent, tied to its earnings growth. The investor should try to establish if the expected growth or decline in earnings, whichever the case may be, is priced in. This then helps them determine if the stock is placed for a bright or bleak future. If you're wondering about WCON Electronics (Guangdong)'s's valuation, check out this gauge of its price-to-earnings ratio, as compared to its industry.

Is WCON Electronics (Guangdong) Efficiently Re-investing Its Profits?

WCON Electronics (Guangdong)'s three-year median payout ratio is a pretty moderate 26%, meaning the company retains 74% of its income. So it seems that WCON Electronics (Guangdong) is reinvesting efficiently in a way that it sees impressive growth in its earnings (discussed above) and pays a dividend that's well covered.

While WCON Electronics (Guangdong) has seen growth in its earnings, it only recently started to pay a dividend. It is most likely that the company decided to impress new and existing shareholders with a dividend.

Summary

In total, it does look like WCON Electronics (Guangdong) has some positive aspects to its business. Despite its low rate of return, the fact that the company reinvests a very high portion of its profits into its business, no doubt contributed to its high earnings growth. With that said, the latest industry analyst forecasts reveal that the company's earnings are expected to accelerate. Are these analysts expectations based on the broad expectations for the industry, or on the company's fundamentals? Click here to be taken to our analyst's forecasts page 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.