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. Ultimately, this demonstrates that it's a business that is reinvesting profits at increasing rates of return. In light of that, when we looked at Landrich Holding (HKG:2132) and its ROCE trend, we weren't exactly thrilled.
Understanding Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)
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. To calculate this metric for Landrich Holding, this is the formula:
Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) ÷ (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)
0.013 = HK$4.1m ÷ (HK$670m - HK$341m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2025).
So, Landrich Holding has an ROCE of 1.3%. In absolute terms, that's a low return and it also under-performs the Construction industry average of 4.9%.
Check out our latest analysis for Landrich Holding
Historical performance is a great place to start when researching a stock so above you can see the gauge for Landrich Holding's ROCE against it's prior returns. If you want to delve into the historical earnings , check out these free graphs detailing revenue and cash flow performance of Landrich Holding.
How Are Returns Trending?
When we looked at the ROCE trend at Landrich Holding, we didn't gain much confidence. Around five years ago the returns on capital were 43%, but since then they've fallen to 1.3%. Meanwhile, the business is utilizing more capital but this hasn't moved the needle much in terms of sales in the past 12 months, so this could reflect longer term investments. 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 separate but related note, it's important to know that Landrich Holding has a current liabilities to total assets ratio of 51%, which we'd consider pretty high. 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. Ideally we'd like to see this reduce as that would mean fewer obligations bearing risks.
Our Take On Landrich Holding's ROCE
To conclude, we've found that Landrich Holding is reinvesting in the business, but returns have been falling. And in the last three years, the stock has given away 20% so the market doesn't look too hopeful on these trends strengthening any time soon. Therefore based on the analysis done in this article, we don't think Landrich Holding has the makings of a multi-bagger.
Landrich Holding does come with some risks though, we found 5 warning signs in our investment analysis, and 2 of those are a bit unpleasant...
While Landrich Holding 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.
Valuation is complex, but we're here to simplify it.
Discover if Landrich Holding might be undervalued or overvalued with our detailed analysis, featuring fair value estimates, potential risks, dividends, insider trades, and its financial condition.
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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.