SF DiamondLtd (SZSE:300179) has had a rough week with its share price down 13%. It is possible that the markets have ignored the company's differing financials and decided to lean-in to the negative sentiment. Fundamentals usually dictate market outcomes so it makes sense to study the company's financials. Specifically, we decided to study SF DiamondLtd'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. Simply put, it is used to assess the profitability of a company in relation to its equity capital.

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 SF DiamondLtd is:

7.8% = CN¥117m ÷ CN¥1.5b (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2024).

The 'return' is the yearly profit. So, this means that for every CN¥1 of its shareholder's investments, the company generates a profit of CN¥0.08.

What Has ROE Got To Do With 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.

SF DiamondLtd's Earnings Growth And 7.8% ROE

At first glance, SF DiamondLtd's ROE doesn't look very promising. Yet, a closer study shows that the company's ROE is similar to the industry average of 7.4%. On the other hand, SF DiamondLtd reported a moderate 12% net income growth over the past five years. Given the slightly low ROE, it is likely that there could be some other aspects that are driving this growth. Such as - high earnings retention or an efficient management in place.

We then performed a comparison between SF DiamondLtd's net income growth with the industry, which revealed that the company's growth is similar to the average industry growth of 11% in the same 5-year period.

Earnings growth is a huge factor in stock valuation. What investors need to determine next is if the expected earnings growth, or the lack of it, is already built into the share price. This then helps them determine if the stock is placed for a bright or bleak future. One good indicator of expected earnings growth is the P/E ratio which determines the price the market is willing to pay for a stock based on its earnings prospects. So, you may want to check if SF DiamondLtd is trading on a high P/E or a low P/E, relative to its industry.

Is SF DiamondLtd Using Its Retained Earnings Effectively?

SF DiamondLtd has a very high three-year median payout ratio of 122% suggesting that the company's shareholders are getting paid from more than just the company's earnings. However, this hasn't really hampered its ability to grow as we saw earlier. It would still be worth keeping an eye on that high payout ratio, if for some reason the company runs into problems and business deteriorates. You can see the 2 risks we have identified for SF DiamondLtd by visiting our risks dashboard for free on our platform here.

Additionally, SF DiamondLtd 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.

Summary

In total, we're a bit ambivalent about SF DiamondLtd's performance. While the company has posted impressive earnings growth, its poor ROE and low earnings retention makes us doubtful if that growth could continue, if by any chance the business is faced with any sort of risk. Up till now, we've only made a short study of the company's growth data. To gain further insights into SF DiamondLtd's past profit growth, check out this visualization of past earnings, revenue and cash flows.

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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.