Here's What We Make Of Ober's (EPA:ALOBR) Returns On Capital

What underlying fundamental trends can indicate that a company might be in decline? A business that's potentially in decline often shows two trends, a return on capital employed (ROCE) that's declining, and a base of capital employed that's also declining. This combination can tell you that not only is the company investing less, it's earning less on what it does invest. Having said that, after a brief look, Ober (EPA:ALOBR) we aren't filled with optimism, but let's investigate further.

What is Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)?

Just to clarify if you're unsure, ROCE is a metric for evaluating how much pre-tax income (in percentage terms) a company earns on the capital invested in its business. The formula for this calculation on Ober is:

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

0.0079 = €248k ÷ (€43m - €12m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2020).

So, Ober has an ROCE of 0.8%. In absolute terms, that's a low return and it also under-performs the Building industry average of 2.7%.

Check out our latest analysis for Ober

In the above chart we have measured Ober's prior ROCE against its prior performance, but the future is arguably more important. If you'd like to see what analysts are forecasting going forward, you should check out our free report for Ober.

What Can We Tell From Ober's ROCE Trend?

In terms of Ober's historical ROCE movements, the trend doesn't inspire confidence. To be more specific, the ROCE was 3.1% five years ago, but since then it has dropped noticeably. And on the capital employed front, the business is utilizing roughly the same amount of capital as it was back then. 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 Ober to turn into a multi-bagger.

In Conclusion...

In summary, it's unfortunate that Ober is generating lower returns from the same amount of capital. Investors must expect better things on the horizon though because the stock has risen 9.7% in the last five years. 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'd like to know more about Ober, we've spotted 5 warning signs, and 1 of them shouldn't be ignored.

If you want to search for solid companies with great earnings, check out this free list of companies with good balance sheets and impressive returns on equity.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. 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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