It is hard to get excited after looking at Zhejiang Huakang Pharmaceutical's (SHSE:605077) recent performance, when its stock has declined 11% over the past month. However, a closer look at its sound financials might cause you to think again. Given that fundamentals usually drive long-term market outcomes, the company is worth looking at. Particularly, we will be paying attention to Zhejiang Huakang Pharmaceutical's ROE today.

Return on equity or ROE is a key measure used to assess how efficiently a company's management is utilizing the company's capital. Put another way, it reveals the company's success at turning shareholder investments into profits.

How Is ROE Calculated?

The formula for return on equity is:

Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) ÷ Shareholders' Equity

So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Zhejiang Huakang Pharmaceutical is:

11% = CN¥362m ÷ CN¥3.2b (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2024).

The 'return' is the income the business earned over the last year. So, this means that for every CN¥1 of its shareholder's investments, the company generates a profit of CN¥0.11.

Why Is ROE Important For 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. 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.

Zhejiang Huakang Pharmaceutical's Earnings Growth And 11% ROE

At first glance, Zhejiang Huakang Pharmaceutical seems to have a decent ROE. Especially when compared to the industry average of 8.1% the company's ROE looks pretty impressive. Probably as a result of this, Zhejiang Huakang Pharmaceutical was able to see a decent growth of 9.3% over the last five years.

Next, on comparing with the industry net income growth, we found that Zhejiang Huakang Pharmaceutical's growth is quite high when compared to the industry average growth of 2.9% in the same period, which is great to see.

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). By doing so, they will have an idea if the stock is headed into clear blue waters or if swampy waters await. If you're wondering about Zhejiang Huakang Pharmaceutical's's valuation, check out this gauge of its price-to-earnings ratio, as compared to its industry.

Is Zhejiang Huakang Pharmaceutical Efficiently Re-investing Its Profits?

Zhejiang Huakang Pharmaceutical has a healthy combination of a moderate three-year median payout ratio of 40% (or a retention ratio of 60%) and a respectable amount of growth in earnings as we saw above, meaning that the company has been making efficient use of its profits.

Moreover, Zhejiang Huakang Pharmaceutical is determined to keep sharing its profits with shareholders which we infer from its long history of three years of paying a dividend.

Summary

On the whole, we feel that Zhejiang Huakang Pharmaceutical's performance has been quite good. Specifically, we like that the company is reinvesting a huge chunk of its profits at a high rate of return. This of course has caused the company to see substantial growth in its earnings. If the company continues to grow its earnings the way it has, that could have a positive impact on its share price given how earnings per share influence long-term share prices. Let's not forget, business risk is also one of the factors that affects the price of the stock. So this is also an important area that investors need to pay attention to before making a decision on any business. Our risks dashboard would have the 2 risks we have identified for Zhejiang Huakang Pharmaceutical.

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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.