【what does cib stand for in gaming】Should Aurea SA (EPA:AURE) Focus On Improving This Fundamental Metric?

Many investors are still learning about the various metrics that can be useful when analysing a stock. This what does cib stand for in gamingarticle is for those who would like to learn about Return On Equity (ROE). By way of learning-by-doing, we'll look at ROE to gain a better understanding of Aurea SA (

EPA:AURE

).

Aurea has a ROE of 0.9%

, based on the last twelve months. That means that for every €1 worth of shareholders' equity, it generated €0.01 in profit.

Check out our latest analysis for Aurea

How Do I Calculate ROE?

The

formula for ROE

is:

Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) ÷ Shareholders' Equity

Or for Aurea:

0.9% = €664k ÷ €76m (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2019.)

Most readers would understand what net profit is, but it’s worth explaining the concept of shareholders’ equity. It is all earnings retained by the company, plus any capital paid in by shareholders. Shareholders' equity can be calculated by subtracting the total liabilities of the company from the total assets of the company.

What Does ROE Signify?

Return on Equity measures a company's profitability against the profit it has kept for the business (plus any capital injections). The 'return' is the yearly profit. A higher profit will lead to a higher ROE. So, all else being equal,

a high ROE is better than a low one

. That means ROE can be used to compare two businesses.

Does Aurea Have A Good Return On Equity?

One simple way to determine if a company has a good return on equity is to compare it to the average for its industry. However, this method is only useful as a rough check, because companies do differ quite a bit within the same industry classification. As shown in the graphic below, Aurea has a lower ROE than the average (12%) in the Commercial Services industry classification.

ENXTPA:AURE Past Revenue and Net Income, January 1st 2020

That's not what we like to see. It is better when the ROE is above industry average, but a low one doesn't necessarily mean the business is overpriced. Still,

shareholders might want to check if insiders have been selling

.

How Does Debt Impact ROE?

Most companies need money -- from somewhere -- to grow their profits. The cash for investment can come from prior year profits (retained earnings), issuing new shares, or borrowing. In the first two cases, the ROE will capture this use of capital to grow. In the latter case, the use of debt will improve the returns, but will not change the equity. In this manner the use of debt will boost ROE, even though the core economics of the business stay the same.

Aurea's Debt And Its 0.9% ROE

Although Aurea does use debt, its debt to equity ratio of 0.37 is still low. Its ROE is certainly on the low side, and since it already uses debt, we're not too excited about the company. Careful use of debt to boost returns is often very good for shareholders. However, it could reduce the company's ability to take advantage of future opportunities.

Story continues

The Bottom Line On ROE

Return on equity is a useful indicator of the ability of a business to generate profits and return them to shareholders. Companies that can achieve high returns on equity without too much debt are generally of good quality. If two companies have around the same level of debt to equity, and one has a higher ROE, I'd generally prefer the one with higher ROE.

But ROE is just one piece of a bigger puzzle, since high quality businesses often trade on high multiples of earnings. The rate at which profits are likely to grow, relative to the expectations of profit growth reflected in the current price, must be considered, too. Check the past profit growth by Aurea by looking at this

visualization of past earnings, revenue and cash flow

.

If you would prefer check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this

free

list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity and low debt.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at

[email protected]

. 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. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.

We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.

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