In this article:
There are a few key trends to look for if we want to identify the next multi-bagger. One common approach is to try and find a company with returns on capital employed (ROCE) that are increasing, in conjunction with a growing amount of capital employed. Put simply, these types of businesses are compounding machines, meaning they are continually reinvesting their earnings at ever-higher rates of return. In light of that, when we looked at International Cement Group (SGX:KUO) and its ROCE trend, we weren't exactly thrilled.
Understanding Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)
If you haven't worked with ROCE before, it measures the 'return' (pre-tax profit) a company generates from capital employed in its business. Analysts use this formula to calculate it for International Cement Group:
Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) ÷ (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)
0.094 = S$46m ÷ (S$558m - S$73m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2023).
Thus, International Cement Group has an ROCE of 9.4%. On its own that's a low return, but compared to the average of 7.7% generated by the Basic Materials industry, it's much better.
Check out our latest analysis for International Cement Group
While the past is not representative of the future, it can be helpful to know how a company has performed historically, which is why we have this chart above. If you'd like to look at how International Cement Group has performed in the past in other metrics, you can view this free graph of International Cement Group's past earnings, revenue and cash flow.
What The Trend Of ROCE Can Tell Us
When we looked at the ROCE trend at International Cement Group, we didn't gain much confidence. Around five years ago the returns on capital were 12%, but since then they've fallen to 9.4%. However, given capital employed and revenue have both increased it appears that the business is currently pursuing growth, at the consequence of short term returns. And if the increased capital generates additional returns, the business, and thus shareholders, will benefit in the long run.
In Conclusion...
Even though returns on capital have fallen in the short term, we find it promising that revenue and capital employed have both increased for International Cement Group. However, despite the promising trends, the stock has fallen 55% over the last five years, so there might be an opportunity here for astute investors. So we think it'd be worthwhile to look further into this stock given the trends look encouraging.