Derichebourg (EPA:DBG) Is Reinvesting At Lower Rates Of Return

There are a few key trends to look for if we want to identify the next multi-bagger. One common approach is to try and find a company with returns on capital employed (ROCE) that are increasing, in conjunction with a growing amount of capital employed. Put simply, these types of businesses are compounding machines, meaning they are continually reinvesting their earnings at ever-higher rates of return. In light of that, when we looked at Derichebourg (EPA:DBG) and its ROCE trend, we weren't exactly thrilled.

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

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. To calculate this metric for Derichebourg, this is the formula:

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

0.049 = €60m ÷ (€1.9b - €668m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2020).

Therefore, Derichebourg has an ROCE of 4.9%. In absolute terms, that's a low return but it's around the Commercial Services industry average of 5.5%.

View our latest analysis for Derichebourg

Above you can see how the current ROCE for Derichebourg compares to its prior returns on capital, but there's only so much you can tell from the past. If you'd like to see what analysts are forecasting going forward, you should check out our free report for Derichebourg.

What Does the ROCE Trend For Derichebourg Tell Us?

In terms of Derichebourg's historical ROCE movements, the trend isn't fantastic. To be more specific, ROCE has fallen from 8.8% over the last five years. Meanwhile, the business is utilizing more capital but this hasn't moved the needle much in terms of sales in the past 12 months, so this could reflect longer term investments. It may take some time before the company starts to see any change in earnings from these investments.

On a side note, Derichebourg has done well to pay down its current liabilities to 36% of total assets. That could partly explain why the ROCE has dropped. What's more, this can reduce some aspects of risk to the business because now the company's suppliers or short-term creditors are funding less of its operations. Some would claim this reduces the business' efficiency at generating ROCE since it is now funding more of the operations with its own money.

Our Take On Derichebourg's ROCE

In summary, Derichebourg is reinvesting funds back into the business for growth but unfortunately it looks like sales haven't increased much just yet. Investors must think there's better things to come because the stock has knocked it out of the park, delivering a 214% gain to shareholders who have held over the last five years. But if the trajectory of these underlying trends continue, we think the likelihood of it being a multi-bagger from here isn't high.

Derichebourg does have some risks though, and we've spotted 3 warning signs for Derichebourg that you might be interested in.

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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