A Look Into Titan's (NSE:TITAN) Impressive Returns On Capital

Finding a business that has the potential to grow substantially is not easy, but it is possible if we look at a few key financial metrics. 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. That's why when we briefly looked at Titan's (NSE:TITAN) ROCE trend, we were very happy with what we saw.

Understanding 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. The formula for this calculation on Titan is:

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

0.20 = ₹18b ÷ (₹165b - ₹77b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2021).

Thus, Titan has an ROCE of 20%. In absolute terms that's a great return and it's even better than the Luxury industry average of 12%.

View our latest analysis for Titan

In the above chart we have measured Titan's prior ROCE against its prior performance, but the future is arguably more important. If you'd like, you can check out the forecasts from the analysts covering Titan here for free.

How Are Returns Trending?

Titan deserves to be commended in regards to it's returns. The company has employed 140% more capital in the last five years, and the returns on that capital have remained stable at 20%. Returns like this are the envy of most businesses and given it has repeatedly reinvested at these rates, that's even better. If Titan can keep this up, we'd be very optimistic about its future.

On a side note, Titan's current liabilities are still rather high at 47% of total assets. This effectively means that suppliers (or short-term creditors) are funding a large portion of the business, so just be aware that this can introduce some elements of risk. Ideally we'd like to see this reduce as that would mean fewer obligations bearing risks.

What We Can Learn From Titan's ROCE

In summary, we're delighted to see that Titan has been compounding returns by reinvesting at consistently high rates of return, as these are common traits of a multi-bagger. And the stock has done incredibly well with a 424% return over the last five years, so long term investors are no doubt ecstatic with that result. So while investors seem to be recognizing these promising trends, we still believe the stock deserves further research.

One more thing, we've spotted 1 warning sign facing Titan that you might find interesting.

If you want to search for more stocks that have been earning high returns, check out this free list of stocks with solid balance sheets that are also earning high returns on equity.

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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