Swire Pacific (HKG:19) Hasn't Managed To Accelerate Its Returns

What trends should we look for it we want to identify stocks that can multiply in value over the long term? Typically, we'll want to notice a trend of growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and alongside that, 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. In light of that, when we looked at Swire Pacific (HKG:19) and its ROCE trend, we weren't exactly thrilled.

We've discovered 3 warning signs about Swire Pacific. View them for free.

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 Swire Pacific:

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

0.024 = HK$10b ÷ (HK$477b - HK$56b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2024).

Thus, Swire Pacific has an ROCE of 2.4%. Ultimately, that's a low return and it under-performs the Industrials industry average of 3.2%.

See our latest analysis for Swire Pacific

In the above chart we have measured Swire Pacific's prior ROCE against its prior performance, but the future is arguably more important. If you'd like to see what analysts are forecasting going forward, you should check out our free analyst report for Swire Pacific .

What The Trend Of ROCE Can Tell Us

Things have been pretty stable at Swire Pacific, with its capital employed and returns on that capital staying somewhat the same for the last five years. It's not uncommon to see this when looking at a mature and stable business that isn't re-investing its earnings because it has likely passed that phase of the business cycle. With that in mind, unless investment picks up again in the future, we wouldn't expect Swire Pacific to be a multi-bagger going forward. This probably explains why Swire Pacific is paying out 42% of its income to shareholders in the form of dividends. Unless businesses have highly compelling growth opportunities, they'll typically return some money to shareholders.

Our Take On Swire Pacific's ROCE

In summary, Swire Pacific isn't compounding its earnings but is generating stable returns on the same amount of capital employed. Investors must think there's better things to come because the stock has knocked it out of the park, delivering a 101% gain to shareholders who have held over the last five years. But if the trajectory of these underlying trends continue, we think the likelihood of it being a multi-bagger from here isn't high.

Swire Pacific does have some risks though, and we've spotted 3 warning signs for Swire Pacific that you might be interested in.

While Swire Pacific 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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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.