Colas (EPA:RE) Could Be At Risk Of Shrinking As A Company

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 indicates the company is producing less profit from its investments and its total assets are decreasing. And from a first read, things don't look too good at Colas (EPA:RE), so let's see why.

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

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 Colas, this is the formula:

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

0.042 = €185m ÷ (€9.2b - €4.8b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2020).

Thus, Colas has an ROCE of 4.2%. On its own, that's a low figure but it's around the 4.6% average generated by the Construction industry.

View our latest analysis for Colas

Historical performance is a great place to start when researching a stock so above you can see the gauge for Colas' ROCE against it's prior returns. If you want to delve into the historical earnings, revenue and cash flow of Colas, check out these free graphs here.

So How Is Colas' ROCE Trending?

In terms of Colas' historical ROCE movements, the trend doesn't inspire confidence. About five years ago, returns on capital were 6.6%, however they're now substantially lower than that as we saw above. 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. So because these trends aren't typically conducive to creating a multi-bagger, we wouldn't hold our breath on Colas becoming one if things continue as they have.

Another thing to note, Colas has a high ratio of current liabilities to total assets of 53%. This can bring about some risks because the company is basically operating with a rather large reliance on its suppliers or other sorts of short-term creditors. Ideally we'd like to see this reduce as that would mean fewer obligations bearing risks.

What We Can Learn From Colas' ROCE

All in all, the lower returns from the same amount of capital employed aren't exactly signs of a compounding machine. Investors must expect better things on the horizon though because the stock has risen 16% 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.

If you'd like to know more about Colas, we've spotted 3 warning signs, and 1 of them is potentially serious.

While Colas may not currently earn the highest returns, we've compiled a list of companies that currently earn more than 25% return on equity. Check out this free list here.

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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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