The Return Trends At Gascogne (EPA:ALBI) Look Promising

Did you know there are some financial metrics that can provide clues of a potential multi-bagger? Ideally, a business will show two trends; firstly a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and secondly, an increasing 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. So when we looked at Gascogne (EPA:ALBI) and its trend of ROCE, we really liked what we saw.

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

If you haven't worked with ROCE before, it measures the 'return' (pre-tax profit) a company generates from capital employed in its business. The formula for this calculation on Gascogne is:

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

0.064 = €15m ÷ (€398m - €160m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2021).

So, Gascogne has an ROCE of 6.4%. Ultimately, that's a low return and it under-performs the Packaging industry average of 9.7%.

View our latest analysis for Gascogne

While the past is not representative of the future, it can be helpful to know how a company has performed historically, which is why we have this chart above. If you'd like to look at how Gascogne has performed in the past in other metrics, you can view this free graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow.

How Are Returns Trending?

We're glad to see that ROCE is heading in the right direction, even if it is still low at the moment. The numbers show that in the last five years, the returns generated on capital employed have grown considerably to 6.4%. The company is effectively making more money per dollar of capital used, and it's worth noting that the amount of capital has increased too, by 38%. So we're very much inspired by what we're seeing at Gascogne thanks to its ability to profitably reinvest capital.

On a side note, Gascogne's current liabilities are still rather high at 40% of total assets. 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. While it's not necessarily a bad thing, it can be beneficial if this ratio is lower.

The Bottom Line On Gascogne's ROCE

A company that is growing its returns on capital and can consistently reinvest in itself is a highly sought after trait, and that's what Gascogne has. Since the stock has returned a solid 50% to shareholders over the last five years, it's fair to say investors are beginning to recognize these changes. In light of that, we think it's worth looking further into this stock because if Gascogne can keep these trends up, it could have a bright future ahead.

Since virtually every company faces some risks, it's worth knowing what they are, and we've spotted 2 warning signs for Gascogne (of which 1 is potentially serious!) that you should know about.

While Gascogne 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.

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. 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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