It is hard to get excited after looking at Deepak Builders & Engineers India's (NSE:DBEIL) recent performance, when its stock has declined 21% over the past three months. However, the company's fundamentals look pretty decent, and long-term financials are usually aligned with future market price movements. Specifically, we decided to study Deepak Builders & Engineers India's ROE in this article.
Return on equity or ROE is a key measure used to assess how efficiently a company's management is utilizing the company's capital. Simply put, it is used to assess the profitability of a company in relation to its equity capital.
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 Deepak Builders & Engineers India is:
11% = ₹474m ÷ ₹4.3b (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2025).
The 'return' is the income the business earned over the last year. That means that for every ₹1 worth of shareholders' equity, the company generated ₹0.11 in profit.
Check out our latest analysis for Deepak Builders & Engineers India
So far, we've learned that ROE is a measure of a company's profitability. Based on how much of its profits the company chooses to reinvest or "retain", we are then able to evaluate a company's future ability to generate profits. 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.
When you first look at it, Deepak Builders & Engineers India's ROE doesn't look that attractive. However, given that the company's ROE is similar to the average industry ROE of 13%, we may spare it some thought. Particularly, the exceptional 26% net income growth seen by Deepak Builders & Engineers India over the past five years is pretty remarkable. Considering the moderately low ROE, it is quite possible that there might be some other aspects that are positively influencing the company's earnings growth. For instance, the company has a low payout ratio or is being managed efficiently.
Next, on comparing with the industry net income growth, we found that Deepak Builders & Engineers India's reported growth was lower than the industry growth of 36% over the last few years, which is not something we like to see.
The basis for attaching value to a company is, to a great extent, tied to its earnings growth. It’s important for an investor to know whether the market has priced in the company's expected earnings growth (or decline). This then helps them determine if the stock is placed for a bright or bleak future. If you're wondering about Deepak Builders & Engineers India's's valuation, check out this gauge of its price-to-earnings ratio, as compared to its industry.
Deepak Builders & Engineers India's ' three-year median payout ratio is on the lower side at 7.3% implying that it is retaining a higher percentage (93%) of its profits. So it looks like Deepak Builders & Engineers India is reinvesting profits heavily to grow its business, which shows in its earnings growth.
While Deepak Builders & Engineers India 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.
On the whole, we do feel that Deepak Builders & Engineers India has some positive attributes. Namely, its respectable earnings growth, which it achieved due to it retaining most of its profits. However, given the low ROE, investors may not be benefitting from all that reinvestment after all. While we won't completely dismiss the company, what we would do, is try to ascertain how risky the business is to make a more informed decision around the company. To know the 4 risks we have identified for Deepak Builders & Engineers India visit our risks dashboard for free.
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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.