Saudi Paper Manufacturing Company's (TADAWUL:2300) Stock Is Going Strong: Is the Market Following Fundamentals?

Saudi Paper Manufacturing (TADAWUL:2300) has had a great run on the share market with its stock up by a significant 13% over the last week. Since the market usually pay for a company’s long-term fundamentals, we decided to study the company’s key performance indicators to see if they could be influencing the market. Specifically, we decided to study Saudi Paper Manufacturing's ROE in this article.

ROE or return on equity is a useful tool to assess how effectively a company can generate returns on the investment it received from its shareholders. In other words, it is a profitability ratio which measures the rate of return on the capital provided by the company's shareholders.

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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 Saudi Paper Manufacturing is:

7.6% = ر.س43m ÷ ر.س563m (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2025).

The 'return' is the amount earned after tax over the last twelve months. Another way to think of that is that for every SAR1 worth of equity, the company was able to earn SAR0.08 in profit.

View our latest analysis for Saudi Paper Manufacturing

Why Is ROE Important For Earnings Growth?

We have already established that ROE serves as an efficient profit-generating gauge for a company's future earnings. 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 everything else remains unchanged, the higher the ROE and profit retention, the higher the growth rate of a company compared to companies that don't necessarily bear these characteristics.

Saudi Paper Manufacturing's Earnings Growth And 7.6% ROE

As you can see, Saudi Paper Manufacturing's ROE looks pretty weak. Still, the company's ROE is higher than the average industry ROE of 4.7% so that's certainly interesting. Even more so, after seeing Saudi Paper Manufacturing's exceptional 27% net income growth over the past five years. Bear in mind, the company does have a low ROE. It is just that the industry ROE is lower. Therefore, the growth in earnings could also be the result of other factors. For example, it is possible that the company's management has made some good strategic decisions, or that the company has a low payout ratio.

We then compared Saudi Paper Manufacturing'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 5.9% in the same 5-year period.

Earnings growth is an important metric to consider when valuing a stock. The investor should try to establish if the expected growth or decline in earnings, whichever the case may be, is priced in. Doing so will help them establish if the stock's future looks promising or ominous. Is Saudi Paper Manufacturing fairly valued compared to other companies? These 3 valuation measures might help you decide.

Is Saudi Paper Manufacturing Making Efficient Use Of Its Profits?

Saudi Paper Manufacturing has a three-year median payout ratio of 28% (where it is retaining 72% of its income) which is not too low or not too high. This suggests that its dividend is well covered, and given the high growth we discussed above, it looks like Saudi Paper Manufacturing is reinvesting its earnings efficiently.

While Saudi Paper Manufacturing has been growing its earnings, it only recently started to pay dividends which likely means that the company decided to impress new and existing shareholders with a dividend. Our latest analyst data shows that the future payout ratio of the company over the next three years is expected to be approximately 30%. Still, forecasts suggest that Saudi Paper Manufacturing's future ROE will rise to 14% even though the the company's payout ratio is not expected to change by much.

Summary

Overall, we are quite pleased with Saudi Paper Manufacturing's performance. Particularly, we like that the company is reinvesting heavily into its business at a moderate rate of return. Unsurprisingly, this has led to an impressive earnings growth. Having said that, looking at the current analyst estimates, we found that the company's earnings are expected to gain momentum. To know more about the latest analysts predictions for the company, check out this visualization of analyst forecasts 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.