Will Weakness in West African Resources Limited's (ASX:WAF) Stock Prove Temporary Given Strong Fundamentals?
It is hard to get excited after looking at West African Resources' (ASX:WAF) recent performance, when its stock has declined 29% over the past three months. However, stock prices are usually driven by a company’s financial performance over the long term, which in this case looks quite promising. In this article, we decided to focus on West African Resources' ROE.
Return on Equity or ROE is a test of how effectively a company is growing its value and managing investors’ money. Put another way, it reveals the company's success at turning shareholder investments into profits.
View our latest analysis for West African Resources
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 West African Resources is:
38% = AU$248m ÷ AU$649m (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2022).
The 'return' is the yearly profit. One way to conceptualize this is that for each A$1 of shareholders' capital it has, the company made A$0.38 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. Based on how much of its profits the company chooses to reinvest or "retain", we are then able to evaluate a company's future ability to generate profits. Assuming everything else remains unchanged, the higher the ROE and profit retention, the higher the growth rate of a company compared to companies that don't necessarily bear these characteristics.
A Side By Side comparison of West African Resources' Earnings Growth And 38% ROE
First thing first, we like that West African Resources has an impressive ROE. Additionally, the company's ROE is higher compared to the industry average of 16% which is quite remarkable. As a result, West African Resources' exceptional 67% net income growth seen over the past five years, doesn't come as a surprise.
As a next step, we compared West African Resources' net income growth with the industry, and pleasingly, we found that the growth seen by the company is higher than the average industry growth of 33%.
The basis for attaching value to a company is, to a great extent, tied to its earnings growth. It’s important for an investor to know whether the market has priced in the company's expected earnings growth (or decline). This then helps them determine if the stock is placed for a bright or bleak future. If you're wondering about West African Resources''s valuation, check out this gauge of its price-to-earnings ratio, as compared to its industry.
Is West African Resources Efficiently Re-investing Its Profits?
Given that West African Resources doesn't pay any dividend to its shareholders, we infer that the company has been reinvesting all of its profits to grow its business.
Summary
On the whole, we feel that West African Resources' performance has been quite good. Particularly, we like that the company is reinvesting heavily into its business, and at a high rate of return. Unsurprisingly, this has led to an impressive earnings growth. With that said, the latest industry analyst forecasts reveal that the company's earnings growth is expected to slow down. 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.
Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.
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.
Join A Paid User Research Session
You’ll receive a US$30 Amazon Gift card for 1 hour of your time while helping us build better investing tools for the individual investors like yourself. Sign up here
