Will Shun Ho Property Investments (HKG:219) Multiply In Value Going Forward?

If we want to find a potential multi-bagger, often there are underlying trends that can provide clues. In a perfect world, we'd like to see a company investing more capital into its business and ideally the returns earned from that capital are also increasing. Basically this means that a company has profitable initiatives that it can continue to reinvest in, which is a trait of a compounding machine. However, after briefly looking over the numbers, we don't think Shun Ho Property Investments (HKG:219) has the makings of a multi-bagger going forward, but let's have a look at why that may be.

Understanding Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)

If you haven't worked with ROCE before, it measures the 'return' (pre-tax profit) a company generates from capital employed in its business. Analysts use this formula to calculate it for Shun Ho Property Investments:

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

0.0079 = HK$70m ÷ (HK$9.1b - HK$290m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2020).

Therefore, Shun Ho Property Investments has an ROCE of 0.8%. In absolute terms, that's a low return and it also under-performs the Hospitality industry average of 3.2%.

Check out our latest analysis for Shun Ho Property Investments

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, revenue and cash flow of Shun Ho Property Investments, check out these free graphs here.

So How Is Shun Ho Property Investments' ROCE Trending?

On the surface, the trend of ROCE at Shun Ho Property Investments doesn't inspire confidence. Around five years ago the returns on capital were 2.9%, but since then they've fallen to 0.8%. And considering revenue has dropped while employing more capital, we'd be cautious. This could mean that the business is losing its competitive advantage or market share, because while more money is being put into ventures, it's actually producing a lower return - "less bang for their buck" per se.

The Bottom Line On Shun Ho Property Investments' ROCE

From the above analysis, we find it rather worrisome that returns on capital and sales for Shun Ho Property Investments have fallen, meanwhile the business is employing more capital than it was five years ago. Long term shareholders who've owned the stock over the last five years have experienced a 38% depreciation in their investment, so it appears the market might not like these trends either. With underlying trends that aren't great in these areas, we'd consider looking elsewhere.

Shun Ho Property Investments does have some risks, we noticed 2 warning signs (and 1 which can't be ignored) we think you should know about.

For those who like to invest in solid companies, check out this free list of companies with solid balance sheets and high returns on equity.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. 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.
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