Investors Shouldn't Overlook SKF India's (NSE:SKFINDIA) Impressive Returns On Capital

There are a few key trends to look for if we want to identify the next multi-bagger. One common approach is to try and find a company with returns on capital employed (ROCE) that are increasing, in conjunction with a growing 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. So when we looked at the ROCE trend of SKF India (NSE:SKFINDIA) we really liked what we saw.

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

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. The formula for this calculation on SKF India is:

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

0.29 = ₹5.0b ÷ (₹24b - ₹7.0b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2021).

Thus, SKF India has an ROCE of 29%. That's a fantastic return and not only that, it outpaces the average of 15% earned by companies in a similar industry.

View our latest analysis for SKF India

Historical performance is a great place to start when researching a stock so above you can see the gauge for SKF India's ROCE against it's prior returns. If you're interested in investigating SKF India's past further, check out this free graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow.

What The Trend Of ROCE Can Tell Us

SKF India has not disappointed with their ROCE growth. Looking at the data, we can see that even though capital employed in the business has remained relatively flat, the ROCE generated has risen by 63% over the last five years. So our take on this is that the business has increased efficiencies to generate these higher returns, all the while not needing to make any additional investments. It's worth looking deeper into this though because while it's great that the business is more efficient, it might also mean that going forward the areas to invest internally for the organic growth are lacking.

The Key Takeaway

To bring it all together, SKF India has done well to increase the returns it's generating from its capital employed. And with the stock having performed exceptionally well over the last five years, these patterns are being accounted for by investors. With that being said, we still think the promising fundamentals mean the company deserves some further due diligence.

SKF India does have some risks though, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for SKF India that you might be interested in.

If you'd like to see other companies earning high returns, check out our free list of companies earning high returns with solid balance sheets here.

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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.