Returns On Capital Are Showing Encouraging Signs At Rougier (EPA:ALRGR)

If you're looking for a multi-bagger, there's a few things to keep an eye out for. Typically, we'll want to notice a trend of growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and alongside that, an expanding base of capital employed. Basically this means that a company has profitable initiatives that it can continue to reinvest in, which is a trait of a compounding machine. So when we looked at Rougier (EPA:ALRGR) and its trend of ROCE, we really liked what we saw.

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. Analysts use this formula to calculate it for Rougier:

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

0.089 = €3.2m ÷ (€69m - €33m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2021).

Therefore, Rougier has an ROCE of 8.9%. Ultimately, that's a low return and it under-performs the Forestry industry average of 12%.

See our latest analysis for Rougier

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 want to delve into the historical earnings, revenue and cash flow of Rougier, check out these free graphs here.

The Trend Of ROCE

We're pretty happy with how the ROCE has been trending at Rougier. The figures show that over the last five years, returns on capital have grown by 7,740%. That's not bad because this tells for every dollar invested (capital employed), the company is increasing the amount earned from that dollar. Speaking of capital employed, the company is actually utilizing 46% less than it was five years ago, which can be indicative of a business that's improving its efficiency. If this trend continues, the business might be getting more efficient but it's shrinking in terms of total assets.

On a side note, Rougier's current liabilities are still rather high at 48% of total assets. This effectively means that suppliers (or short-term creditors) are funding a large portion of the business, so just be aware that this can introduce some elements of risk. While it's not necessarily a bad thing, it can be beneficial if this ratio is lower.

What We Can Learn From Rougier's ROCE

In a nutshell, we're pleased to see that Rougier has been able to generate higher returns from less capital. And given the stock has remained rather flat over the last five years, there might be an opportunity here if other metrics are strong. So researching this company further and determining whether or not these trends will continue seems justified.

One more thing: We've identified 4 warning signs with Rougier (at least 2 which are concerning) , and understanding them would certainly be useful.

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. 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.