Sun.King Technology Group (HKG:580) has had a rough three months with its share price down 11%. It is possible that the markets have ignored the company's differing financials and decided to lean-in to the negative sentiment. Fundamentals usually dictate market outcomes so it makes sense to study the company's financials. In this article, we decided to focus on Sun.King Technology Group's ROE.
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.
The formula for ROE is:
Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) ÷ Shareholders' Equity
So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Sun.King Technology Group is:
7.3% = CN¥150m ÷ CN¥2.1b (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2025).
The 'return' is the income the business earned over the last year. One way to conceptualize this is that for each HK$1 of shareholders' capital it has, the company made HK$0.07 in profit.
View our latest analysis for Sun.King Technology Group
Thus far, we have learned that ROE measures how efficiently a company is generating its profits. 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. Generally speaking, other things being equal, firms with a high return on equity and profit retention, have a higher growth rate than firms that don’t share these attributes.
On the face of it, Sun.King Technology Group's ROE is not much to talk about. However, given that the company's ROE is similar to the average industry ROE of 7.7%, we may spare it some thought. Having said that, Sun.King Technology Group's five year net income decline rate was 8.6%. Remember, the company's ROE is a bit low to begin with. So that's what might be causing earnings growth to shrink.
So, as a next step, we compared Sun.King Technology Group's performance against the industry and were disappointed to discover that while the company has been shrinking its earnings, the industry has been growing its earnings at a rate of 13% over the last few years.
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 Sun.King Technology Group fairly valued compared to other companies? These 3 valuation measures might help you decide.
Sun.King Technology Group's low three-year median payout ratio of 17% (or a retention ratio of 83%) over the last three years should mean that the company is retaining most of its earnings to fuel its growth but the company's earnings have actually shrunk. The low payout should mean that the company is retaining most of its earnings and consequently, should see some growth. So there might be other factors at play here which could potentially be hampering growth. For instance, the business has faced some headwinds.
Moreover, Sun.King Technology Group has been paying dividends for at least ten years or more suggesting that management must have perceived that the shareholders prefer dividends over earnings growth.
In total, we're a bit ambivalent about Sun.King Technology Group's performance. While the company does have a high rate of profit retention, its low rate of return is probably hampering its earnings growth. Having said that, looking at current analyst estimates, we found that the company's earnings growth rate is expected to see a huge improvement. Are these analysts expectations based on the broad expectations for the industry, or on the company's fundamentals? Click here to be taken to our analyst's forecasts page for the company.
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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.