WEBULL

Is Swisscom AG's (VTX:SCMN) 11% ROE Better Than Average?

Simply Wall St · 09/17 04:20

One of the best investments we can make is in our own knowledge and skill set. With that in mind, this article will work through how we can use Return On Equity (ROE) to better understand a business. We'll use ROE to examine Swisscom AG (VTX:SCMN), by way of a worked example.

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 short, ROE shows the profit each dollar generates with respect to its shareholder investments.

We've found 21 US stocks that are forecast to pay a dividend yield of over 6% next year. See the full list for free.

How To Calculate Return On Equity?

Return on equity 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 Swisscom is:

11% = CHF1.3b ÷ CHF12b (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2025).

The 'return' refers to a company's earnings over the last year. That means that for every CHF1 worth of shareholders' equity, the company generated CHF0.11 in profit.

Check out our latest analysis for Swisscom

Does Swisscom Have A Good Return On Equity?

Arguably the easiest way to assess company's ROE is to compare it with the average in its industry. However, this method is only useful as a rough check, because companies do differ quite a bit within the same industry classification. The image below shows that Swisscom has an ROE that is roughly in line with the Telecom industry average (12%).

roe
SWX:SCMN Return on Equity September 17th 2025

So while the ROE is not exceptional, at least its acceptable. While at least the ROE is not lower than the industry, its still worth checking what role the company's debt plays as high debt levels relative to equity may also make the ROE appear high. If so, this increases its exposure to financial risk. You can see the 2 risks we have identified for Swisscom by visiting our risks dashboard for free on our platform here.

Why You Should Consider Debt When Looking At ROE

Companies usually need to invest money to grow their profits. The cash for investment can come from prior year profits (retained earnings), issuing new shares, or borrowing. In the case of the first and second options, the ROE will reflect this use of cash, for growth. In the latter case, the debt required for growth will boost returns, but will not impact the shareholders' equity. In this manner the use of debt will boost ROE, even though the core economics of the business stay the same.

Swisscom's Debt And Its 11% ROE

Swisscom does use a high amount of debt to increase returns. It has a debt to equity ratio of 1.15. While its ROE is respectable, it is worth keeping in mind that there is usually a limit as to how much debt a company can use. Debt does bring extra risk, so it's only really worthwhile when a company generates some decent returns from it.

Summary

Return on equity is useful for comparing the quality of different businesses. A company that can achieve a high return on equity without debt could be considered a high quality business. If two companies have the same ROE, then I would generally prefer the one with less debt.

But when a business is high quality, the market often bids it up to a price that reflects this. It is important to consider other factors, such as future profit growth -- and how much investment is required going forward. So you might want to take a peek at this data-rich interactive graph of forecasts for the company.

But note: Swisscom may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with high ROE and low debt.