When Seroja Investments Limited's (SGX:IW5) announced its latest earnings (30 June 2019), I wanted to understand how these figures stacked up against its past performance. The two benchmarks I used were Seroja Investments's average earnings over the past couple of years, and its industry performance. These are useful yardsticks to help me gauge whether or not IW5 actually performed well. Below is a quick commentary on how I see IW5 has performed.

Check out our latest analysis for Seroja Investments

Was IW5's recent earnings decline worse than the long-term trend and the industry?

IW5 recently turned a profit of US$1.2m (most recent trailing twelve-months) compared to its average loss of -US$2.9m over the past five years.

In terms of returns from investment, Seroja Investments has fallen short of achieving a 20% return on equity (ROE), recording 5.1% instead. Furthermore, its return on assets (ROA) of 2.2% is below the SG Shipping industry of 3.4%, indicating Seroja Investments's are utilized less efficiently. And finally, its return on capital (ROC), which also accounts for Seroja Investments’s debt level, has declined over the past 3 years from 8.2% to 5.6%.

What does this mean?

Though Seroja Investments's past data is helpful, it is only one aspect of my investment thesis. Companies that are profitable, but have volatile earnings, can have many factors influencing its business. I recommend you continue to research Seroja Investments to get a better picture of the stock by looking at:

1. Future Outlook: What are well-informed industry analysts predicting for IW5’s future growth? Take a look at our free research report of analyst consensus for IW5’s outlook.

2. Financial Health: Are IW5’s operations financially sustainable? Balance sheets can be hard to analyze, which is why we’ve done it for you. Check out our financial health checks here.

3. Other High-Performing Stocks: Are there other stocks that provide better prospects with proven track records? Explore our free list of these great stocks here.

NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the trailing twelve months from 30 June 2019. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures.

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