These Return Metrics Don't Make Romande Energie Holding (VTX:HREN) Look Too Strong

Ignoring the stock price of a company, what are the underlying trends that tell us a business is past the growth phase? More often than not, we'll see a declining return on capital employed (ROCE) and a declining amount of capital employed. This reveals that the company isn't compounding shareholder wealth because returns are falling and its net asset base is shrinking. On that note, looking into Romande Energie Holding (VTX:HREN), we weren't too upbeat about how things were going.

Return On Capital Employed (ROCE): What is it?

If you haven't worked with ROCE before, it measures the 'return' (pre-tax profit) a company generates from capital employed in its business. To calculate this metric for Romande Energie Holding, this is the formula:

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

0.029 = CHF63m ÷ (CHF2.3b - CHF152m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2021).

Therefore, Romande Energie Holding has an ROCE of 2.9%. In absolute terms, that's a low return and it also under-performs the Electric Utilities industry average of 7.2%.

Check out 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'd like to see what analysts are forecasting going forward, you should check out our free report for Romande Energie Holding.

What The Trend Of ROCE Can Tell Us

There is reason to be cautious about Romande Energie Holding, given the returns are trending downwards. About five years ago, returns on capital were 4.5%, however they're now substantially lower than that as we saw above. On top of that, it's worth noting that the amount of capital employed within the business has remained relatively steady. Since returns are falling and the business has the same amount of assets employed, this can suggest it's a mature business that hasn't had much growth in the last five years. If these trends continue, we wouldn't expect Romande Energie Holding to turn into a multi-bagger.

The Bottom Line

In the end, the trend of lower returns on the same amount of capital isn't typically an indication that we're looking at a growth stock. Investors must expect better things on the horizon though because the stock has risen 24% in the last five years. Regardless, we don't like the trends as they are and if they persist, we think you might find better investments elsewhere.

While Romande Energie Holding doesn't shine too bright in this respect, it's still worth seeing if the company is trading at attractive prices. You can find that out with our FREE intrinsic value estimation on our platform.

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.