Investors Will Want China Pipe Group's (HKG:380) Growth In ROCE To Persist

If you're looking for a multi-bagger, there's a few things to keep an eye out for. One common approach is to try and find a company with returns on capital employed (ROCE) that are increasing, in conjunction with a growing amount 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 on that note, China Pipe Group (HKG:380) looks quite promising in regards to its trends of return on capital.

What Is 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. The formula for this calculation on China Pipe Group is:

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

0.078 = HK$61m ÷ (HK$950m - HK$160m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2023).

So, China Pipe Group has an ROCE of 7.8%. In absolute terms, that's a low return, but it's much better than the Trade Distributors industry average of 6.2%.

Check out our latest analysis for China Pipe Group

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 want to delve into the historical earnings , check out these free graphs detailing revenue and cash flow performance of China Pipe Group.

What Does the ROCE Trend For China Pipe Group Tell Us?

We're glad to see that ROCE is heading in the right direction, even if it is still low at the moment. The numbers show that in the last five years, the returns generated on capital employed have grown considerably to 7.8%. The amount of capital employed has increased too, by 45%. So we're very much inspired by what we're seeing at China Pipe Group thanks to its ability to profitably reinvest capital.

What We Can Learn From China Pipe Group's ROCE

All in all, it's terrific to see that China Pipe Group is reaping the rewards from prior investments and is growing its capital base. Given the stock has declined 58% in the last five years, this could be a good investment if the valuation and other metrics are also appealing. With that in mind, we believe the promising trends warrant this stock for further investigation.

On a final note, we've found 2 warning signs for China Pipe Group that we think you should be aware of.

While China Pipe 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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com