Made Tech Group (LON:MTEC) Will Be Hoping To Turn Its Returns On Capital Around

To find a multi-bagger stock, what are the underlying trends we should look for in a business? Firstly, we'll want to see a proven return on capital employed (ROCE) that is increasing, and secondly, an expanding base of capital employed. This shows us that it's a compounding machine, able to continually reinvest its earnings back into the business and generate higher returns. Although, when we looked at Made Tech Group (LON:MTEC), it didn't seem to tick all of these boxes.

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Understanding Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)

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 Made Tech Group, this is the formula:

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

0.093 = UK£1.3m ÷ (UK£18m - UK£4.7m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to November 2024).

Thus, Made Tech Group has an ROCE of 9.3%. In absolute terms, that's a low return and it also under-performs the IT industry average of 14%.

Check out our latest analysis for Made Tech Group

Above you can see how the current ROCE for Made Tech Group 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 Made Tech Group for free.

What Can We Tell From Made Tech Group's ROCE Trend?

In terms of Made Tech Group's historical ROCE movements, the trend isn't fantastic. Around five years ago the returns on capital were 26%, but since then they've fallen to 9.3%. However it looks like Made Tech Group might be reinvesting for long term growth because while capital employed has increased, the company's sales haven't changed much in the last 12 months. It's worth keeping an eye on the company's earnings from here on to see if these investments do end up contributing to the bottom line.

On a related note, Made Tech Group has decreased its current liabilities to 26% of total assets. That could partly explain why the ROCE has dropped. Effectively this means their suppliers or short-term creditors are funding less of the business, which reduces some elements of risk. Some would claim this reduces the business' efficiency at generating ROCE since it is now funding more of the operations with its own money.

What We Can Learn From Made Tech Group's ROCE

To conclude, we've found that Made Tech Group is reinvesting in the business, but returns have been falling. And investors appear hesitant that the trends will pick up because the stock has fallen 46% in the last three years. All in all, the inherent trends aren't typical of multi-baggers, so if that's what you're after, we think you might have more luck elsewhere.

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

While Made Tech Group isn't earning the highest return, check out this free list of companies that are earning high returns on equity with solid balance sheets.

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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.