We Like These Underlying Return On Capital Trends At Harbin Electric (HKG:1133)

Did you know there are some financial metrics that can provide clues of a potential multi-bagger? Firstly, we'd want to identify a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and then alongside that, an ever-increasing base 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 Harbin Electric (HKG:1133) and its trend of ROCE, we really liked what we saw.

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Return On Capital Employed (ROCE): What Is It?

For those that aren't sure what ROCE is, it measures the amount of pre-tax profits a company can generate from the capital employed in its business. Analysts use this formula to calculate it for Harbin Electric:

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

0.10 = CN¥1.9b ÷ (CN¥72b - CN¥53b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2024).

Therefore, Harbin Electric has an ROCE of 10%. On its own, that's a standard return, however it's much better than the 7.3% generated by the Electrical industry.

Check out our latest analysis for Harbin Electric

Above you can see how the current ROCE for Harbin Electric 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 Harbin Electric for free.

So How Is Harbin Electric's ROCE Trending?

Shareholders will be relieved that Harbin Electric has broken into profitability. While the business was unprofitable in the past, it's now turned things around and is earning 10% on its capital. Interestingly, the capital employed by the business has remained relatively flat, so these higher returns are either from prior investments paying off or increased efficiencies. So while we're happy that the business is more efficient, just keep in mind that could mean that going forward the business is lacking areas to invest internally for growth. So if you're looking for high growth, you'll want to see a business's capital employed also increasing.

On a side note, Harbin Electric's current liabilities are still rather high at 74% 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. Ideally we'd like to see this reduce as that would mean fewer obligations bearing risks.

The Key Takeaway

To sum it up, Harbin Electric is collecting higher returns from the same amount of capital, and that's impressive. And with the stock having performed exceptionally well over the last five years, these patterns are being accounted for by investors. In light of that, we think it's worth looking further into this stock because if Harbin Electric can keep these trends up, it could have a bright future ahead.

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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.