Jade Power Trust (CVE:JPWR.UN) Is Looking To Continue Growing Its Returns On Capital

If you're looking for a multi-bagger, there's a few things to 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. Basically this means that a company has profitable initiatives that it can continue to reinvest in, which is a trait of a compounding machine. With that in mind, we've noticed some promising trends at Jade Power Trust (CVE:JPWR.UN) so let's look a bit deeper.

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. To calculate this metric for Jade Power Trust, this is the formula:

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

0.087 = CA$5.7m ÷ (CA$74m - CA$9.0m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2021).

So, Jade Power Trust has an ROCE of 8.7%. In absolute terms, that's a low return, but it's much better than the Renewable Energy industry average of 5.6%.

Check out our latest analysis for Jade Power Trust

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 Jade Power Trust, check out these free graphs here.

The Trend Of ROCE

The fact that Jade Power Trust is now generating some pre-tax profits from its prior investments is very encouraging. About five years ago the company was generating losses but things have turned around because it's now earning 8.7% on its capital. And unsurprisingly, like most companies trying to break into the black, Jade Power Trust is utilizing 59% more capital than it was five years ago. This can tell us that the company has plenty of reinvestment opportunities that are able to generate higher returns.

On a related note, the company's ratio of current liabilities to total assets has decreased to 12%, which basically reduces it's funding from the likes of short-term creditors or suppliers. So this improvement in ROCE has come from the business' underlying economics, which is great to see.

The Bottom Line On Jade Power Trust's ROCE

To the delight of most shareholders, Jade Power Trust has now broken into profitability. Given the stock has declined 61% in the last five years, this could be a good investment if the valuation and other metrics are also appealing. So researching this company further and determining whether or not these trends will continue seems justified.

On a final note, we've found 2 warning signs for Jade Power Trust that we think you should be aware of.

While Jade Power Trust may not currently earn the highest returns, we've compiled a list of companies that currently earn more than 25% return on equity. Check out this free list here.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. 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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