Returns On Capital Are Showing Encouraging Signs At Wanka Online (HKG:1762)

What are the early trends we should look for to identify a stock that could multiply in value over the long term? 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. With that in mind, we've noticed some promising trends at Wanka Online (HKG:1762) so let's look a bit deeper.

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. To calculate this metric for Wanka Online, this is the formula:

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

0.069 = CN¥101m ÷ (CN¥1.9b - CN¥443m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2022).

So, Wanka Online has an ROCE of 6.9%. On its own, that's a low figure but it's around the 8.1% average generated by the Interactive Media and Services industry.

View our latest analysis for Wanka Online

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 Wanka Online, check out these free graphs here.

So How Is Wanka Online's ROCE Trending?

Wanka Online has recently broken into profitability so their prior investments seem to be paying off. Shareholders would no doubt be pleased with this because the business was loss-making five years ago but is is now generating 6.9% on its capital. And unsurprisingly, like most companies trying to break into the black, Wanka Online is utilizing 1,413% more capital than it was five years ago. This can indicate that there's plenty of opportunities to invest capital internally and at ever higher rates, both common traits of a multi-bagger.

In another part of our analysis, we noticed that the company's ratio of current liabilities to total assets decreased to 23%, which broadly means the business is relying less on its suppliers or short-term creditors to fund its operations. So this improvement in ROCE has come from the business' underlying economics, which is great to see.

What We Can Learn From Wanka Online's ROCE

In summary, it's great to see that Wanka Online has managed to break into profitability and is continuing to reinvest in its business. Although the company may be facing some issues elsewhere since the stock has plunged 79% in the last three years. In any case, we believe the economic trends of this company are positive and looking into the stock further could prove rewarding.

One more thing to note, we've identified 2 warning signs with Wanka Online and understanding these should be part of your investment process.

While Wanka Online 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.