Yahoo Finance Billington Holdings Plc's (LON:BILN) Has Performed Well But Fundamentals Look Varied: Is There A Clear Direction For The Stock?
Most readers would already know that Billington Holdings' (LON:BILN) stock increased by 5.0% over the past three months. However, the company's financials look a bit inconsistent and market outcomes are ultimately driven by long-term fundamentals, meaning that the stock could head in either direction. Specifically, we decided to study Billington Holdings' ROE in this article.
Return on equity or ROE is a key measure used to assess how efficiently a company's management is utilizing the company's capital. In simpler terms, it measures the profitability of a company in relation to shareholder's equity.
See our latest analysis for Billington Holdings
How Is ROE Calculated?
The formula for return on equity is:
Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) ÷ Shareholders' Equity
So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Billington Holdings is:
4.7% = UK£1.4m ÷ UK£29m (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2020).
The 'return' is the income the business earned over the last year. So, this means that for every £1 of its shareholder's investments, the company generates a profit of £0.05.
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 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.
Billington Holdings' Earnings Growth And 4.7% ROE
When you first look at it, Billington Holdings' ROE doesn't look that attractive. However, its ROE is similar to the industry average of 4.7%, so we won't completely dismiss the company. Having said that, Billington Holdings has shown a meagre net income growth of 4.5% over the past five years. Bear in mind, the company's ROE is not very high . So this could also be one of the reasons behind the company's low growth in earnings.
We then compared Billington Holdings' net income growth with the industry and found that the company's growth figure is lower than the average industry growth rate of 6.6% in the same period, which is a bit concerning.
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. Is Billington Holdings fairly valued compared to other companies? These 3 valuation measures might help you decide.
Is Billington Holdings Efficiently Re-investing Its Profits?
Despite having a normal three-year median payout ratio of 38% (or a retention ratio of 62% over the past three years, Billington Holdings has seen very little growth in earnings as we saw above. So there might be other factors at play here which could potentially be hampering growth. For example, the business has faced some headwinds.
Additionally, Billington Holdings has paid dividends over a period of six years, which means that the company's management is determined to pay dividends even if it means little to no earnings growth.
Summary
On the whole, we feel that the performance shown by Billington Holdings can be open to many interpretations. While the company does have a high rate of profit retention, its low rate of return is probably hampering its earnings growth. Wrapping up, we would proceed with caution with this company and one way of doing that would be to look at the risk profile of the business. To know the 4 risks we have identified for Billington Holdings visit our risks dashboard for free.
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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