Returns At CWT International (HKG:521) Are On The Way Up

Did you know there are some financial metrics that can provide clues of a potential multi-bagger? Ideally, a business will show two trends; firstly a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and secondly, an increasing amount of capital employed. If you see this, it typically means it's a company with a great business model and plenty of profitable reinvestment opportunities. With that in mind, we've noticed some promising trends at CWT International (HKG:521) so let's look a bit deeper.

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. The formula for this calculation on CWT International is:

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

0.044 = HK$342m ÷ (HK$28b - HK$20b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2024).

Thus, CWT International has an ROCE of 4.4%. In absolute terms, that's a low return and it also under-performs the Trade Distributors industry average of 5.9%.

View our latest analysis for CWT International

Historical performance is a great place to start when researching a stock so above you can see the gauge for CWT International's ROCE against it's prior returns. If you're interested in investigating CWT International's past further, check out this free graph covering CWT International's past earnings, revenue and cash flow.

What Can We Tell From CWT International's ROCE Trend?

Even though ROCE is still low in absolute terms, it's good to see it's heading in the right direction. We found that the returns on capital employed over the last five years have risen by 9,241%. That's not bad because this tells for every dollar invested (capital employed), the company is increasing the amount earned from that dollar. Speaking of capital employed, the company is actually utilizing 21% less than it was five years ago, which can be indicative of a business that's improving its efficiency. If this trend continues, the business might be getting more efficient but it's shrinking in terms of total assets.

On a side note, CWT International's current liabilities are still rather high at 72% 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. While it's not necessarily a bad thing, it can be beneficial if this ratio is lower.

Our Take On CWT International's ROCE

In a nutshell, we're pleased to see that CWT International has been able to generate higher returns from less capital. Considering the stock has delivered 8.0% to its stockholders over the last three years, it may be fair to think that investors aren't fully aware of the promising trends yet. So with that in mind, we think the stock deserves further research.

CWT International does come with some risks though, we found 4 warning signs in our investment analysis, and 1 of those is concerning...

While CWT International 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.