B&M European Value Retail S.A.'s (LON:BME) Stock's On An Uptrend: Are Strong Financials Guiding The Market?

Most readers would already be aware that B&M European Value Retail's (LON:BME) stock increased significantly by 55% over the past three months. Given the company's impressive performance, we decided to study its financial indicators more closely as a company's financial health over the long-term usually dictates market outcomes. Specifically, we decided to study B&M European Value Retail'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 other words, it is a profitability ratio which measures the rate of return on the capital provided by the company's shareholders.

View our latest analysis for B&M European Value Retail

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 B&M European Value Retail is:

22% = UK£195m ÷ UK£867m (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2020).

The 'return' is the amount earned after tax over the last twelve months. So, this means that for every £1 of its shareholder's investments, the company generates a profit of £0.22.

Why Is ROE Important For Earnings Growth?

So far, we've learnt that ROE is a measure of a company's profitability. 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 B&M European Value Retail's Earnings Growth And 22% ROE

To begin with, B&M European Value Retail has a pretty high ROE which is interesting. Additionally, the company's ROE is higher compared to the industry average of 13% which is quite remarkable. Probably as a result of this, B&M European Value Retail was able to see a decent net income growth of 17% over the last five years.

We then compared B&M European Value Retail's net income growth with the industry and we're pleased to see that the company's growth figure is higher when compared with the industry which has a growth rate of 2.4% in the same period.

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 BME fairly valued? This infographic on the company's intrinsic value has everything you need to know.

Is B&M European Value Retail Using Its Retained Earnings Effectively?

With a three-year median payout ratio of 40% (implying that the company retains 60% of its profits), it seems that B&M European Value Retail is reinvesting efficiently in a way that it sees respectable amount growth in its earnings and pays a dividend that's well covered.

Besides, B&M European Value Retail has been paying dividends over a period of six years. This shows that the company is committed to sharing profits with its shareholders. Upon studying the latest analysts' consensus data, we found that the company is expected to keep paying out approximately 39% of its profits over the next three years. As a result, B&M European Value Retail's ROE is not expected to change by much either, which we inferred from the analyst estimate of 25% for future ROE.

Conclusion

In total, we are pretty happy with B&M European Value Retail's performance. Specifically, we like that the company is reinvesting a huge chunk of its profits at a high rate of return. This of course has caused the company to see substantial growth in its earnings. Having said that, the company's earnings growth is expected to slow down, as forecasted in the current analyst estimates. To know more about the latest analysts predictions for the company, check out this visualization of analyst forecasts for the company.

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. 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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com.