Banco Popular de Puerto Rico: Return on Equity

Return on equity (ROE) is a bank's annualized net income divided by its average shareholders' equity, expressed as a percentage. It is the return the bank earns on the capital its owners have invested.

Read ROE together with ROA and the equity-to-assets ratio. ROE equals ROA times the ratio of assets to equity, so a bank can raise ROE by holding less capital without earning more on its assets; a high ROE built on thin capital is weaker than the same ROE built on a high ROA. Subchapter S banks pay no income tax at the bank level, so their ROE runs higher than a C corporation bank with the same pretax earnings. Share buybacks shrink equity and lift ROE with no change in profit.