The Return Trends At Anhui Conch Cement (HKG:914) Look Promising

What are the early trends we should look for to identify a stock that could multiply in value over the long term? Amongst other things, we'll want to see two things; firstly, a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and secondly, an expansion in the company's 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. With that in mind, we've noticed some promising trends at Anhui Conch Cement (HKG:914) so let's look a bit deeper.

Return On Capital Employed (ROCE): What is it?

If you haven't worked with ROCE before, it measures the 'return' (pre-tax profit) a company generates from capital employed in its business. To calculate this metric for Anhui Conch Cement, this is the formula:

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

0.19 = CN¥38b ÷ (CN¥231b - CN¥26b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2022).

So, Anhui Conch Cement has an ROCE of 19%. In absolute terms, that's a satisfactory return, but compared to the Basic Materials industry average of 9.4% it's much better.

View our latest analysis for Anhui Conch Cement

In the above chart we have measured Anhui Conch Cement's prior ROCE against its prior performance, but the future is arguably more important. If you're interested, you can view the analysts predictions in our free report on analyst forecasts for the company.

How Are Returns Trending?

Anhui Conch Cement is displaying some positive trends. Over the last five years, returns on capital employed have risen substantially to 19%. Basically the business is earning more per dollar of capital invested and in addition to that, 115% more capital is being employed now too. So we're very much inspired by what we're seeing at Anhui Conch Cement thanks to its ability to profitably reinvest capital.

Our Take On Anhui Conch Cement's ROCE

In summary, it's great to see that Anhui Conch Cement can compound returns by consistently reinvesting capital at increasing rates of return, because these are some of the key ingredients of those highly sought after multi-baggers. Since the stock has returned a solid 55% to shareholders over the last five years, it's fair to say investors are beginning to recognize these changes. So given the stock has proven it has promising trends, it's worth researching the company further to see if these trends are likely to persist.

If you want to know some of the risks facing Anhui Conch Cement we've found 3 warning signs (1 doesn't sit too well with us!) that you should be aware of before investing here.

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. 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.