Be Wary Of China Tianrui Group Cement (HKG:1252) And Its Returns On Capital

If we want to find a stock that could multiply over the long term, what are the underlying trends we should look for? Ideally, a business will show two trends; firstly a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and secondly, an increasing amount of capital employed. This shows us that it's a compounding machine, able to continually reinvest its earnings back into the business and generate higher returns. In light of that, when we looked at China Tianrui Group Cement (HKG:1252) and its ROCE trend, we weren't exactly thrilled.

Return On Capital Employed (ROCE): What Is It?

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. Analysts use this formula to calculate it for China Tianrui Group Cement:

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

0.011 = CN¥222m ÷ (CN¥37b - CN¥17b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2024).

Thus, China Tianrui Group Cement has an ROCE of 1.1%. Ultimately, that's a low return and it under-performs the Basic Materials industry average of 2.4%.

Check out our latest analysis for China Tianrui Group Cement

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 Tianrui Group Cement.

The Trend Of ROCE

On the surface, the trend of ROCE at China Tianrui Group Cement doesn't inspire confidence. Around five years ago the returns on capital were 16%, but since then they've fallen to 1.1%. Given the business is employing more capital while revenue has slipped, this is a bit concerning. 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.

On a separate but related note, it's important to know that China Tianrui Group Cement has a current liabilities to total assets ratio of 45%, which we'd consider pretty high. 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. Ideally we'd like to see this reduce as that would mean fewer obligations bearing risks.

Our Take On China Tianrui Group Cement's ROCE

We're a bit apprehensive about China Tianrui Group Cement because despite more capital being deployed in the business, returns on that capital and sales have both fallen. We expect this has contributed to the stock plummeting 94% during the last five years. That being the case, unless the underlying trends revert to a more positive trajectory, we'd consider looking elsewhere.

If you want to continue researching China Tianrui Group Cement, you might be interested to know about the 3 warning signs that our analysis has discovered.

If you want to search for solid companies with great earnings, check out this free list of companies with good balance sheets and impressive returns on equity.

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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.