Eiffage (EPA:FGR) Has Some Difficulty Using Its Capital Effectively

When researching a stock for investment, what can tell us that the company is in decline? Typically, we'll see the trend of both return on capital employed (ROCE) declining and this usually coincides with a decreasing 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 Eiffage (EPA:FGR), we weren't too upbeat about how things were going.

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

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 Eiffage is:

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

0.057 = €1.2b ÷ (€34b - €13b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2020).

So, Eiffage has an ROCE of 5.7%. On its own that's a low return, but compared to the average of 4.6% generated by the Construction industry, it's much better.

Check out our latest analysis for Eiffage

Above you can see how the current ROCE for Eiffage compares to its prior returns on capital, but there's only so much you can tell from the past. If you'd like, you can check out the forecasts from the analysts covering Eiffage here for free.

How Are Returns Trending?

In terms of Eiffage's historical ROCE movements, the trend doesn't inspire confidence. Unfortunately the returns on capital have diminished from the 7.6% that they were earning five years ago. Meanwhile, capital employed in the business has stayed roughly the flat over the period. 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 Eiffage to turn into a multi-bagger.

The Key Takeaway

In summary, it's unfortunate that Eiffage is generating lower returns from the same amount of capital. Yet despite these concerning fundamentals, the stock has performed strongly with a 46% return over the last five years, so investors appear very optimistic. Regardless, we don't feel too comfortable with the fundamentals so we'd be steering clear of this stock for now.

Since virtually every company faces some risks, it's worth knowing what they are, and we've spotted 3 warning signs for Eiffage (of which 1 is potentially serious!) that you should know about.

For those who like to invest in solid companies, check out this free list of companies with solid balance sheets and high 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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