The Return Trends At Carry Wealth Holdings (HKG:643) Look Promising

There are a few key trends to look for if we want to identify the next 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. Ultimately, this demonstrates that it's a business that is reinvesting profits at increasing rates of return. So when we looked at Carry Wealth Holdings (HKG:643) and its trend of ROCE, we really liked what we saw.

What Is Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)?

For those who don't know, ROCE is a measure of a company's yearly pre-tax profit (its return), relative to the capital employed in the business. The formula for this calculation on Carry Wealth Holdings is:

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

0.014 = HK$2.5m ÷ (HK$249m - HK$79m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2022).

Therefore, Carry Wealth Holdings has an ROCE of 1.4%. In absolute terms, that's a low return and it also under-performs the Luxury industry average of 10%.

View our latest analysis for Carry Wealth Holdings

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're interested in investigating Carry Wealth Holdings' past further, check out this free graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow.

So How Is Carry Wealth Holdings' ROCE Trending?

We're delighted to see that Carry Wealth Holdings is reaping rewards from its investments and has now broken into profitability. The company was generating losses five years ago, but now it's turned around, earning 1.4% which is no doubt a relief for some early shareholders. At first glance, it seems the business is getting more proficient at generating returns, because over the same period, the amount of capital employed has reduced by 27%. This could potentially mean that the company is selling some of its assets.

On a side note, we noticed that the improvement in ROCE appears to be partly fueled by an increase in current liabilities. Essentially the business now has suppliers or short-term creditors funding about 32% of its operations, which isn't ideal. Keep an eye out for future increases because when the ratio of current liabilities to total assets gets particularly high, this can introduce some new risks for the business.

The Key Takeaway

In a nutshell, we're pleased to see that Carry Wealth Holdings has been able to generate higher returns from less capital. Given the stock has declined 43% in the last five years, this could be a good investment if the valuation and other metrics are also appealing. So researching this company further and determining whether or not these trends will continue seems justified.

If you want to know some of the risks facing Carry Wealth Holdings we've found 2 warning signs (1 is a bit concerning!) that you should be aware of before investing here.

While Carry Wealth Holdings 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.