There Are Reasons To Feel Uneasy About G.A. Holdings' (HKG:8126) Returns On Capital

Did you know there are some financial metrics that can provide clues of a potential multi-bagger? Typically, we'll want to notice a trend of growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and alongside that, an expanding base of capital employed. If you see this, it typically means it's a company with a great business model and plenty of profitable reinvestment opportunities. However, after briefly looking over the numbers, we don't think G.A. Holdings (HKG:8126) has the makings of a multi-bagger going forward, but let's have a look at why that may be.

What Is Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)?

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. To calculate this metric for G.A. Holdings, this is the formula:

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

0.089 = HK$85m ÷ (HK$1.8b - HK$821m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2022).

So, G.A. Holdings has an ROCE of 8.9%. In absolute terms, that's a low return, but it's much better than the Retail Distributors industry average of 4.9%.

Check out our latest analysis for G.A. 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'd like to look at how G.A. Holdings has performed in the past in other metrics, you can view this free graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow.

So How Is G.A. Holdings' ROCE Trending?

In terms of G.A. Holdings' historical ROCE movements, the trend isn't fantastic. Around five years ago the returns on capital were 18%, but since then they've fallen to 8.9%. And considering revenue has dropped while employing more capital, we'd be cautious. If this were to continue, you might be looking at a company that is trying to reinvest for growth but is actually losing market share since sales haven't increased.

On a side note, G.A. Holdings has done well to pay down its current liabilities to 46% of total assets. That could partly explain why the ROCE has dropped. What's more, this can reduce some aspects of risk to the business because now the company's suppliers or short-term creditors are funding less of its operations. Some would claim this reduces the business' efficiency at generating ROCE since it is now funding more of the operations with its own money. Either way, they're still at a pretty high level, so we'd like to see them fall further if possible.

The Bottom Line

We're a bit apprehensive about G.A. Holdings because despite more capital being deployed in the business, returns on that capital and sales have both fallen. It should come as no surprise then that the stock has fallen 68% over the last five years, so it looks like investors are recognizing these changes. Unless there is a shift to a more positive trajectory in these metrics, we would look elsewhere.

One final note, you should learn about the 4 warning signs we've spotted with G.A. Holdings (including 2 which can't be ignored) .

While G.A. 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.