Fabasoft (ETR:FAA) has had a great run on the share market with its stock up by a significant 13% over the last month. As most would know, fundamentals are what usually guide market price movements over the long-term, so we decided to look at the company's key financial indicators today to determine if they have any role to play in the recent price movement. In this article, we decided to focus on Fabasoft'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.

Check out our latest analysis for Fabasoft

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 Fabasoft is:

27% = €7.5m ÷ €28m (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2023).

The 'return' refers to a company's earnings over the last year. So, this means that for every €1 of its shareholder's investments, the company generates a profit of €0.27.

Why Is ROE Important For Earnings Growth?

Thus far, we have learned that ROE measures how efficiently a company is generating its profits. 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 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 Fabasoft's Earnings Growth And 27% ROE

Firstly, we acknowledge that Fabasoft has a significantly high ROE. Additionally, the company's ROE is higher compared to the industry average of 14% which is quite remarkable. Probably as a result of this, Fabasoft was able to see a decent net income growth of 5.5% over the last five years.

Next, on comparing with the industry net income growth, we found that Fabasoft's reported growth was lower than the industry growth of 17% over the last few years, which is not something we like 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). Doing so will help them establish if the stock's future looks promising or ominous. Is FAA fairly valued? This infographic on the company's intrinsic value has everything you need to know.

Is Fabasoft Making Efficient Use Of Its Profits?

Fabasoft has a very high three-year median payout ratio of 111% suggesting that the company's shareholders are getting paid from more than just the company's earnings. However, this hasn't really hampered its ability to grow as we saw earlier. That being said, the high payout ratio could be worth keeping an eye on in case the company is unable to keep up its current growth momentum.

Moreover, Fabasoft is determined to keep sharing its profits with shareholders which we infer from its long history of paying a dividend for at least ten years. Our latest analyst data shows that the future payout ratio of the company is expected to drop to 39% over the next three years. As a result, the expected drop in Fabasoft's payout ratio explains the anticipated rise in the company's future ROE to 35%, over the same period.

Conclusion

In total, it does look like Fabasoft has some positive aspects to its business. The company has grown its earnings moderately as a result of its impressive ROE. Yet, the business is retaining hardly any of its profits. This might have negative implications on the company's future growth. With that said, the latest industry analyst forecasts reveal that the company's earnings are expected to accelerate. 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.

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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.