Elastron - Steel Service Centers (ATH:ELSTR) Is Looking To Continue Growing Its Returns On Capital

If we want to find a stock that could multiply over the long term, what are the underlying trends we should look for? Ideally, a business will show two trends; firstly a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and secondly, an increasing amount 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. Speaking of which, we noticed some great changes in Elastron - Steel Service Centers' (ATH:ELSTR) returns on capital, so let's have a look.

What is Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)?

If you haven't worked with ROCE before, it measures the 'return' (pre-tax profit) a company generates from capital employed in its business. Analysts use this formula to calculate it for Elastron - Steel Service Centers:

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

0.013 = €1.3m ÷ (€129m - €25m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2020).

So, Elastron - Steel Service Centers has an ROCE of 1.3%. Ultimately, that's a low return and it under-performs the Metals and Mining industry average of 3.4%.

See our latest analysis for Elastron - Steel Service Centers

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're interested in investigating Elastron - Steel Service Centers' past further, check out this free graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow.

What The Trend Of ROCE Can Tell Us

Elastron - Steel Service Centers has recently broken into profitability so their prior investments seem to be paying off. The company was generating losses five years ago, but now it's earning 1.3% which is a sight for sore eyes. Not only that, but the company is utilizing 22% more capital than before, but that's to be expected from a company trying to break into profitability. This can indicate that there's plenty of opportunities to invest capital internally and at ever higher rates, both common traits of a multi-bagger.

What We Can Learn From Elastron - Steel Service Centers' ROCE

In summary, it's great to see that Elastron - Steel Service Centers has managed to break into profitability and is continuing to reinvest in its business. Since the stock has returned a staggering 242% to shareholders over the last five years, it looks like investors are recognizing these changes. Therefore, we think it would be worth your time to check if these trends are going to continue.

Elastron - Steel Service Centers does have some risks, we noticed 3 warning signs (and 1 which is concerning) we think you should know about.

While Elastron - Steel Service Centers 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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