Inta Bina Group Berhad's (KLSE:INTA) Stock Is Rallying But Financials Look Ambiguous: Will The Momentum Continue?

Inta Bina Group Berhad (KLSE:INTA) has had a great run on the share market with its stock up by a significant 24% over the last three months. However, we decided to pay attention to the company's fundamentals which don't appear to give a clear sign about the company's financial health. Specifically, we decided to study Inta Bina Group Berhad's ROE in this article.

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. In simpler terms, it measures the profitability of a company in relation to shareholder's equity.

View our latest analysis for Inta Bina Group Berhad

How Do You 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 Inta Bina Group Berhad is:

6.7% = RM10m ÷ RM153m (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2022).

The 'return' refers to a company's earnings over the last year. One way to conceptualize this is that for each MYR1 of shareholders' capital it has, the company made MYR0.07 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. 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.

A Side By Side comparison of Inta Bina Group Berhad's Earnings Growth And 6.7% ROE

At first glance, Inta Bina Group Berhad's ROE doesn't look very promising. However, its ROE is similar to the industry average of 6.0%, so we won't completely dismiss the company. But Inta Bina Group Berhad saw a five year net income decline of 17% over the past five years. Bear in mind, the company does have a slightly low ROE. Hence, this goes some way in explaining the shrinking earnings.

Furthermore, even when compared to the industry, which has been shrinking its earnings at a rate 2.9% in the same period, we found that Inta Bina Group Berhad's performance is pretty disappointing, as it suggests that the company has been shrunk its earnings at a rate faster than the industry.

Earnings growth is a huge factor in stock valuation. The investor should try to establish if the expected growth or decline in earnings, whichever the case may be, is priced in. This then helps them determine if the stock is placed for a bright or bleak future. If you're wondering about Inta Bina Group Berhad's's valuation, check out this gauge of its price-to-earnings ratio, as compared to its industry.

Is Inta Bina Group Berhad Using Its Retained Earnings Effectively?

Despite having a normal three-year median payout ratio of 45% (where it is retaining 55% of its profits), Inta Bina Group Berhad has seen a decline in earnings as we saw above. It looks like there might be some other reasons to explain the lack in that respect. For example, the business could be in decline.

Moreover, Inta Bina Group Berhad has been paying dividends for four years, which is a considerable amount of time, suggesting that management must have perceived that the shareholders prefer consistent dividends even though earnings have been shrinking. Upon studying the latest analysts' consensus data, we found that the company's future payout ratio is expected to drop to 27% over the next three years. Accordingly, the expected drop in the payout ratio explains the expected increase in the company's ROE to 13%, over the same period.

Summary

In total, we're a bit ambivalent about Inta Bina Group Berhad's performance. While the company does have a high rate of profit retention, its low rate of return is probably hampering its earnings growth. With that said, we studied the latest analyst forecasts and found that while the company has shrunk its earnings in the past, analysts expect its earnings to grow in the future. To know more about the company's future earnings growth forecasts take a look at this free report on analyst forecasts for the company to find out more.

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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.

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