KION GROUP (ETR:KGX) Might Be Having Difficulty Using Its Capital Effectively

If we want to find a potential multi-bagger, often there are underlying trends that can provide clues. In a perfect world, we'd like to see a company investing more capital into its business and ideally the returns earned from that capital are also increasing. This shows us that it's a compounding machine, able to continually reinvest its earnings back into the business and generate higher returns. In light of that, when we looked at KION GROUP (ETR:KGX) and its ROCE trend, we weren't exactly thrilled.

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What Is 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 KION GROUP, this is the formula:

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

0.039 = €497m ÷ (€18b - €5.6b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2025).

Thus, KION GROUP has an ROCE of 3.9%. Ultimately, that's a low return and it under-performs the Machinery industry average of 9.1%.

See our latest analysis for KION GROUP

Above you can see how the current ROCE for KION GROUP 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 analyst report for KION GROUP .

How Are Returns Trending?

On the surface, the trend of ROCE at KION GROUP doesn't inspire confidence. Around five years ago the returns on capital were 5.0%, but since then they've fallen to 3.9%. However it looks like KION GROUP might be reinvesting for long term growth because while capital employed has increased, the company's sales haven't changed much in the last 12 months. It may take some time before the company starts to see any change in earnings from these investments.

What We Can Learn From KION GROUP's ROCE

To conclude, we've found that KION GROUP is reinvesting in the business, but returns have been falling. Since the stock has declined 22% over the last five years, investors may not be too optimistic on this trend improving either. On the whole, we aren't too inspired by the underlying trends and we think there may be better chances of finding a multi-bagger elsewhere.

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

While KION GROUP 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.