Cancom's (ETR:COK) Returns On Capital Not Reflecting Well On The Business

If you're looking for a multi-bagger, there's a few things to keep an eye out for. Typically, we'll want to notice a trend of growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and alongside that, an expanding base of capital employed. If you see this, it typically means it's a company with a great business model and plenty of profitable reinvestment opportunities. However, after investigating Cancom (ETR:COK), we don't think it's current trends fit the mold of a multi-bagger.

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 Cancom is:

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

0.089 = €67m ÷ (€1.2b - €492m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2021).

Therefore, Cancom has an ROCE of 8.9%. On its own, that's a low figure but it's around the 11% average generated by the IT industry.

View our latest analysis for Cancom

In the above chart we have measured Cancom's prior ROCE against its prior performance, but the future is arguably more important. If you're interested, you can view the analysts predictions in our free report on analyst forecasts for the company.

The Trend Of ROCE

When we looked at the ROCE trend at Cancom, we didn't gain much confidence. To be more specific, ROCE has fallen from 13% over the last five years. On the other hand, the company has been employing more capital without a corresponding improvement in sales in the last year, which could suggest these investments are longer term plays. It's worth keeping an eye on the company's earnings from here on to see if these investments do end up contributing to the bottom line.

On a side note, Cancom's current liabilities have increased over the last five years to 39% of total assets, effectively distorting the ROCE to some degree. If current liabilities hadn't increased as much as they did, the ROCE could actually be even lower. Keep an eye on this ratio, because the business could encounter some new risks if this metric gets too high.

The Bottom Line On Cancom's ROCE

Bringing it all together, while we're somewhat encouraged by Cancom's reinvestment in its own business, we're aware that returns are shrinking. Investors must think there's better things to come because the stock has knocked it out of the park, delivering a 130% gain to shareholders who have held over the last five years. However, unless these underlying trends turn more positive, we wouldn't get our hopes up too high.

One more thing, we've spotted 1 warning sign facing Cancom that you might find interesting.

While Cancom 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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