Shenzhen Expressway (HKG:548) Shareholders Will Want The ROCE Trajectory To Continue

If you're looking for a multi-bagger, there's a few things to keep an eye out 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. Speaking of which, we noticed some great changes in Shenzhen Expressway's (HKG:548) returns on capital, so let's have a look.

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 Shenzhen Expressway, this is the formula:

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

0.084 = CN¥3.7b ÷ (CN¥57b - CN¥13b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2021).

So, Shenzhen Expressway has an ROCE of 8.4%. Even though it's in line with the industry average of 7.6%, it's still a low return by itself.

Check out our latest analysis for Shenzhen Expressway

In the above chart we have measured Shenzhen Expressway's prior ROCE against its prior performance, but the future is arguably more important. If you'd like to see what analysts are forecasting going forward, you should check out our free report for Shenzhen Expressway.

What Does the ROCE Trend For Shenzhen Expressway Tell Us?

While in absolute terms it isn't a high ROCE, it's promising to see that it has been moving in the right direction. The data shows that returns on capital have increased substantially over the last five years to 8.4%. Basically the business is earning more per dollar of capital invested and in addition to that, 69% more capital is being employed now too. The increasing returns on a growing amount of capital is common amongst multi-baggers and that's why we're impressed.

The Bottom Line On Shenzhen Expressway's ROCE

A company that is growing its returns on capital and can consistently reinvest in itself is a highly sought after trait, and that's what Shenzhen Expressway has. Since the stock has only returned 30% to shareholders over the last five years, the promising fundamentals may not be recognized yet by investors. Given that, we'd look further into this stock in case it has more traits that could make it multiply in the long term.

Shenzhen Expressway does come with some risks though, we found 2 warning signs in our investment analysis, and 1 of those is a bit unpleasant...

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.
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