Dialog Group Berhad (KLSE:DIALOG) Has Fared Decently But Fundamentals Look Uncertain: What Lies Ahead For The Stock?

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Dialog Group Berhad's (KLSE:DIALOG) stock up by 3.3% over the past month. Given that the stock prices usually follow long-term business performance, we wonder if the company's mixed financials could have any adverse effect on its current price price movement Particularly, we will be paying attention to Dialog Group Berhad's ROE today.
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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ROE 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 Dialog Group Berhad is:
4.9% = RM303m ÷ RM6.2b (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2025).
The 'return' is the income the business earned over the last year. That means that for every MYR1 worth of shareholders' equity, the company generated MYR0.05 in profit.
View our latest analysis for Dialog Group Berhad
So far, we've learned that ROE is a measure of a company's profitability. 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.
It is quite clear that Dialog Group Berhad's ROE is rather low. Even when compared to the industry average of 13%, the ROE figure is pretty disappointing. Therefore, it might not be wrong to say that the five year net income decline of 6.3% seen by Dialog Group Berhad was possibly a result of it having a lower ROE. However, there could also be other factors causing the earnings to decline. For example, the business has allocated capital poorly, or that the company has a very high payout ratio.
That being said, we compared Dialog Group Berhad's performance with the industry and were concerned when we found that while the company has shrunk its earnings, the industry has grown its earnings at a rate of 33% in the same 5-year period.
Earnings growth is an important metric to consider when valuing a stock. What investors need to determine next is if the expected earnings growth, or the lack of it, is already built into the share price. This then helps them determine if the stock is placed for a bright or bleak future. If you're wondering about Dialog Group Berhad's's valuation, check out this gauge of its price-to-earnings ratio, as compared to its industry.
Looking at its three-year median payout ratio of 40% (or a retention ratio of 60%) which is pretty normal, Dialog Group Berhad's declining earnings is rather baffling as one would expect to see a fair bit of growth when a company is retaining a good portion of its profits. It looks like there might be some other reasons to explain the lack in that respect. For example, the business could be in decline.
In addition, Dialog Group Berhad has been paying dividends over a period of at least ten years suggesting that keeping up dividend payments is way more important to the management even if it comes at the cost of business growth. Upon studying the latest analysts' consensus data, we found that the company is expected to keep paying out approximately 36% of its profits over the next three years. However, Dialog Group Berhad's ROE is predicted to rise to 6.0% despite there being no anticipated change in its payout ratio.
On the whole, we feel that the performance shown by Dialog Group Berhad can be open to many interpretations. While the company does have a high rate of reinvestment, the low ROE means that all that reinvestment is not reaping any benefit to its investors, and moreover, its having a negative impact on the 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. To know more about the company's future earnings growth forecasts take a look at this free report on analyst forecasts for the company to find out more.
Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.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.
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