Most readers would already be aware that FAWER Automotive Parts Limited's (SZSE:000030) stock increased significantly by 16% over the past three months. But the company's key financial indicators appear to be differing across the board and that makes us question whether or not the company's current share price momentum can be maintained. In this article, we decided to focus on FAWER Automotive Parts Limited's ROE.

Return on equity or ROE is an important factor to be considered by a shareholder because it tells them how effectively their capital is being reinvested. Put another way, it reveals the company's success at turning shareholder investments into profits.

How Is ROE Calculated?

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 FAWER Automotive Parts Limited is:

10% = CN¥922m ÷ CN¥9.0b (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2024).

The 'return' refers to a company's earnings over the last year. That means that for every CN¥1 worth of shareholders' equity, the company generated CN¥0.10 in profit.

What Is The Relationship Between ROE And Earnings Growth?

We have already established that ROE serves as an efficient profit-generating gauge for a company's future earnings. 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.

A Side By Side comparison of FAWER Automotive Parts Limited's Earnings Growth And 10% ROE

On the face of it, FAWER Automotive Parts Limited's ROE is not much to talk about. However, the fact that the its ROE is quite higher to the industry average of 8.3% doesn't go unnoticed by us. However, FAWER Automotive Parts Limited's five year net income decline rate was 10%. Bear in mind, the company does have a slightly low ROE. It is just that the industry ROE is lower. Hence, this goes some way in explaining the shrinking earnings.

So, as a next step, we compared FAWER Automotive Parts Limited's performance against the industry and were disappointed to discover that while the company has been shrinking its earnings, the industry has been growing its earnings at a rate of 9.2% over the last few years.

The basis for attaching value to a company is, to a great extent, tied to its earnings growth. 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 FAWER Automotive Parts Limited is trading on a high P/E or a low P/E, relative to its industry.

Is FAWER Automotive Parts Limited Making Efficient Use Of Its Profits?

With a high three-year median payout ratio of 71% (implying that 29% of the profits are retained), most of FAWER Automotive Parts Limited's profits are being paid to shareholders, which explains the company's shrinking earnings. The business is only left with a small pool of capital to reinvest - A vicious cycle that doesn't benefit the company in the long-run. To know the 3 risks we have identified for FAWER Automotive Parts Limited visit our risks dashboard for free.

In addition, FAWER Automotive Parts Limited has been paying dividends over a period of at least ten years suggesting that keeping up dividend payments is way more important to the management even if it comes at the cost of business growth.

Summary

On the whole, we feel that the performance shown by FAWER Automotive Parts Limited can be open to many interpretations. On the one hand, the company does have a decent rate of return, however, its earnings growth number is quite disappointing and as discussed earlier, the low retained earnings is hampering the growth. Until now, we have only just grazed the surface of the company's past performance by looking at the company's fundamentals. You can do your own research on FAWER Automotive Parts Limited and see how it has performed in the past by looking at this FREE detailed graph 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.