With An ROE Of 8.64%, Can PAX Global Technology Limited (HKG:327) Catch Up To The Industry?
PAX Global Technology Limited’s (SEHK:327) most recent return on equity was a substandard 8.64% relative to its industry performance of 10.94% over the past year. 327’s results could indicate a relatively inefficient operation to its peers, and while this may be the case, it is important to understand what ROE is made up of and how it should be interpreted. Knowing these components could change your view on 327’s performance. Metrics such as financial leverage can impact the level of ROE which in turn can affect the sustainability of 327’s returns. Let me show you what I mean by this. View our latest analysis for PAX Global Technology
Breaking down ROE — the mother of all ratios
Return on Equity (ROE) is a measure of PAX Global Technology’s profit relative to its shareholders’ equity. An ROE of 8.64% implies HK$0.09 returned on every HK$1 invested. While a higher ROE is preferred in most cases, there are several other factors we should consider before drawing any conclusions.
Return on Equity = Net Profit ÷ Shareholders Equity
ROE is measured against cost of equity in order to determine the efficiency of PAX Global Technology’s equity capital deployed. Its cost of equity is 8.38%. While PAX Global Technology’s peers may have higher ROE, it may also incur higher cost of equity. An undesirable and unsustainable practice would be if returns exceeded cost. However, this is not the case for PAX Global Technology which is encouraging. ROE can be broken down into three different ratios: net profit margin, asset turnover, and financial leverage. This is called the Dupont Formula:
Dupont Formula
ROE = profit margin × asset turnover × financial leverage
ROE = (annual net profit ÷ sales) × (sales ÷ assets) × (assets ÷ shareholders’ equity)
ROE = annual net profit ÷ shareholders’ equity
The first component is profit margin, which measures how much of sales is retained after the company pays for all its expenses. Asset turnover reveals how much revenue can be generated from PAX Global Technology’s asset base. And finally, financial leverage is simply how much of assets are funded by equity, which exhibits how sustainable the company’s capital structure is. Since ROE can be artificially increased through excessive borrowing, we should check PAX Global Technology’s historic debt-to-equity ratio. Currently PAX Global Technology has virtually no debt, which means its returns are predominantly driven by equity capital. This could explain why PAX Global Technology’s’ ROE is lower than its industry peers, most of which may have some degree of debt in its business.
Next Steps:
ROE is a simple yet informative ratio, illustrating the various components that each measure the quality of the overall stock. Even though PAX Global Technology returned below the industry average, its ROE comes in excess of its cost of equity. Its appropriate level of leverage means investors can be more confident in the sustainability of PAX Global Technology’s return with a possible increase should the company decide to increase its debt levels. ROE is a helpful signal, but it is definitely not sufficient on its own to make an investment decision.
For PAX Global Technology, there are three pertinent aspects you should further examine:
Financial Health: Does it have a healthy balance sheet? Take a look at our free balance sheet analysis with six simple checks on key factors like leverage and risk.
Valuation: What is PAX Global Technology worth today? Is the stock undervalued, even when its growth outlook is factored into its intrinsic value? The intrinsic value infographic in our free research report helps visualize whether PAX Global Technology is currently mispriced by the market.
Other High-Growth Alternatives : Are there other high-growth stocks you could be holding instead of PAX Global Technology? Explore our interactive list of stocks with large growth potential to get an idea of what else is out there you may be missing!
To help readers see pass the short term volatility of the financial market, we aim to bring you a long-term focused research analysis purely driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis does not factor in the latest price sensitive company announcements.
The author is an independent contributor and at the time of publication had no position in the stocks mentioned.
