Will DIC India's (NSE:DICIND) Growth In ROCE Persist?

If you're not sure where to start when looking for the next multi-bagger, there are a few key trends you should keep an eye out for. 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. Ultimately, this demonstrates that it's a business that is reinvesting profits at increasing rates of return. With that in mind, we've noticed some promising trends at DIC India (NSE:DICIND) so let's look a bit deeper.

Understanding Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)

For those that aren't sure what ROCE is, it measures the amount of pre-tax profits a company can generate from the capital employed in its business. To calculate this metric for DIC India, this is the formula:

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

0.047 = ₹143m ÷ (₹4.7b - ₹1.7b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2020).

Thus, DIC India has an ROCE of 4.7%. In absolute terms, that's a low return and it also under-performs the Chemicals industry average of 15%.

Check out our latest analysis for DIC India

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 want to delve into the historical earnings, revenue and cash flow of DIC India, check out these free graphs here.

What Does the ROCE Trend For DIC India Tell Us?

While the ROCE isn't as high as some other companies out there, it's great to see it's on the up. The figures show that over the last five years, ROCE has grown 186% whilst employing roughly the same amount of capital. So it's likely that the business is now reaping the full benefits of its past investments, since the capital employed hasn't changed considerably. On that front, things are looking good so it's worth exploring what management has said about growth plans going forward.

In Conclusion...

To bring it all together, DIC India has done well to increase the returns it's generating from its capital employed. Given the stock has declined 36% in the last five years, there could be a chance of a good investment here if the valuation makes sense. That being the case, research into the company's current valuation metrics and future prospects seems fitting.

If you'd like to know about the risks facing DIC India, we've discovered 2 warning signs that you should be aware of.

If you want to search for solid companies with great earnings, check out this free list of companies with good balance sheets and impressive 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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