It is hard to get excited after looking at Hotel Properties' (SGX:H15) recent performance, when its stock has declined 5.3% over the past three months. It seems that the market might have completely ignored the positive aspects of the company's fundamentals and decided to weigh-in more on the negative aspects. Fundamentals usually dictate market outcomes so it makes sense to study the company's financials. Particularly, we will be paying attention to Hotel Properties' ROE today.

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 Hotel Properties

How Do You Calculate Return On Equity?

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 Hotel Properties is:

2.5% = S$48m ÷ S$1.9b (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2023).

The 'return' is the yearly profit. One way to conceptualize this is that for each SGD1 of shareholders' capital it has, the company made SGD0.02 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. Depending on how much of these profits the company reinvests or "retains", and how effectively it does so, we are then able to assess a company’s earnings growth potential. 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 Hotel Properties' Earnings Growth And 2.5% ROE

It is hard to argue that Hotel Properties' ROE is much good in and of itself. Not just that, even compared to the industry average of 6.5%, the company's ROE is entirely unremarkable. Given the circumstances, the significant decline in net income by 32% seen by Hotel Properties over the last five years is not surprising. We believe that there also might be other aspects that are negatively influencing the company's earnings prospects. Such as - low earnings retention or poor allocation of capital.

Furthermore, even when compared to the industry, which has been shrinking its earnings at a rate of 9.5% over the last few years, we found that Hotel Properties' performance is pretty disappointing, as it suggests that the company has been shrunk its earnings at a rate faster than the industry.

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). By doing so, they will have an idea if the stock is headed into clear blue waters or if swampy waters await. Is Hotel Properties fairly valued compared to other companies? These 3 valuation measures might help you decide.

Is Hotel Properties Making Efficient Use Of Its Profits?

In spite of a normal LTM (or last twelve month) payout ratio of 45% (that is, a retention ratio of 55%), the fact that Hotel Properties' earnings have shrunk is quite puzzling. It looks like there might be some other reasons to explain the lack in that respect. For example, the business could be in decline.

Additionally, Hotel Properties has paid dividends over a period of at least ten years, which means that the company's management is determined to pay dividends even if it means little to no earnings growth.

Conclusion

Overall, we have mixed feelings about Hotel Properties. Even though it appears to be retaining most of its profits, given the low ROE, investors may not be benefitting from all that reinvestment after all. The low earnings growth suggests our theory correct. 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. You can see the 3 risks we have identified for Hotel Properties by visiting our risks dashboard for free on our platform here.

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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.