Be Wary Of Romande Energie Holding (VTX:HREN) And Its Returns On Capital

When it comes to investing, there are some useful financial metrics that can warn us when a business is potentially in trouble. More often than not, we'll see a declining return on capital employed (ROCE) and a declining amount of capital employed. Trends like this ultimately mean the business is reducing its investments and also earning less on what it has invested. So after glancing at the trends within Romande Energie Holding (VTX:HREN), we weren't too hopeful.

What Is 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 Romande Energie Holding is:

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

0.025 = CHF53m ÷ (CHF2.3b - CHF146m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2021).

Thus, Romande Energie Holding has an ROCE of 2.5%. In absolute terms, that's a low return and it also under-performs the Electric Utilities industry average of 8.6%.

See our latest analysis for Romande Energie Holding

Above you can see how the current ROCE for Romande Energie Holding compares to its prior returns on capital, but there's only so much you can tell from the past. If you're interested, you can view the analysts predictions in our free report on analyst forecasts for the company.

What Does the ROCE Trend For Romande Energie Holding Tell Us?

There is reason to be cautious about Romande Energie Holding, given the returns are trending downwards. To be more specific, the ROCE was 4.4% five years ago, but since then it has dropped noticeably. Meanwhile, capital employed in the business has stayed roughly the flat over the period. This combination can be indicative of a mature business that still has areas to deploy capital, but the returns received aren't as high due potentially to new competition or smaller margins. If these trends continue, we wouldn't expect Romande Energie Holding to turn into a multi-bagger.

The Bottom Line

All in all, the lower returns from the same amount of capital employed aren't exactly signs of a compounding machine. Despite the concerning underlying trends, the stock has actually gained 11% over the last five years, so it might be that the investors are expecting the trends to reverse. Either way, we aren't huge fans of the current trends and so with that we think you might find better investments elsewhere.

If you want to know some of the risks facing Romande Energie Holding we've found 2 warning signs (1 doesn't sit too well with us!) that you should be aware of before investing here.

While Romande Energie Holding isn't earning the highest return, check out this free list of companies that are earning high returns on equity with solid balance sheets.

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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.