Cpl Resources (ISE:DQ5) Is Very Good At Capital Allocation

August 18, 2020

If you're looking for a multi-bagger, there's a few things to keep an eye out for. Amongst other things, we'll want to see two things; firstly, a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and secondly, an expansion in the company's amount of capital employed. If you see this, it typically means it's a company with a great business model and plenty of profitable reinvestment opportunities. With that in mind, the ROCE of Cpl Resources (ISE:DQ5) looks great, so lets see what the trend can tell us.

Understanding Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)

For those who don't know, ROCE is a measure of a company's yearly pre-tax profit (its return), relative to the capital employed in the business. The formula for this calculation on Cpl Resources is:

Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) ÷ (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)

0.22 = €27m ÷ (€210m - €86m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2019).

Therefore, Cpl Resources has an ROCE of 22%. That's a fantastic return and not only that, it outpaces the average of 11% earned by companies in a similar industry.

View our latest analysis for Cpl Resources

In the above chart we have measured Cpl Resources' prior ROCE against its prior performance, but the future is arguably more important. If you'd like, you can check out the forecasts from the analysts covering Cpl Resources here for free.

What The Trend Of ROCE Can Tell Us

Investors would be pleased with what's happening at Cpl Resources. The numbers show that in the last five years, the returns generated on capital employed have grown considerably to 22%. Basically the business is earning more per dollar of capital invested and in addition to that, 62% more capital is being employed now too. This can indicate that there's plenty of opportunities to invest capital internally and at ever higher rates, a combination that's common among multi-baggers.

Another thing to note, Cpl Resources has a high ratio of current liabilities to total assets of 41%. This effectively means that suppliers (or short-term creditors) are funding a large portion of the business, so just be aware that this can introduce some elements of risk. Ideally we'd like to see this reduce as that would mean fewer obligations bearing risks.

In Conclusion...

In summary, it's great to see that Cpl Resources can compound returns by consistently reinvesting capital at increasing rates of return, because these are some of the key ingredients of those highly sought after multi-baggers. And investors seem to expect more of this going forward, since the stock has rewarded shareholders with a 43% return over the last five years. With that being said, we still think the promising fundamentals mean the company deserves some further due diligence.

Cpl Resources does have some risks though, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for Cpl Resources that you might be interested in.

If you want to search for more stocks that have been earning high returns, check out this free list of stocks with solid balance sheets that are also earning high returns on equity.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. 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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