Returns Are Gaining Momentum At Compucom Software (NSE:COMPUSOFT)

If we want to find a stock that could multiply over the long term, what are the underlying trends we should look for? Amongst other things, we'll want to see two things; firstly, a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and secondly, an expansion in the company's 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. With that in mind, we've noticed some promising trends at Compucom Software (NSE:COMPUSOFT) so let's look a bit deeper.

What Is Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)?

For those that aren't sure what ROCE is, it measures the amount of pre-tax profits a company can generate from the capital employed in its business. The formula for this calculation on Compucom Software is:

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

0.064 = ₹101m ÷ (₹2.1b - ₹518m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2023).

Thus, Compucom Software has an ROCE of 6.4%. In absolute terms, that's a low return and it also under-performs the Consumer Services industry average of 10.0%.

See our latest analysis for Compucom Software

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

What The Trend Of ROCE Can Tell Us

Compucom Software is showing promise given that its ROCE is trending up and to the right. More specifically, while the company has kept capital employed relatively flat over the last five years, the ROCE has climbed 194% in that same time. 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. The company is doing well in that sense, and it's worth investigating what the management team has planned for long term growth prospects.

On a side note, we noticed that the improvement in ROCE appears to be partly fueled by an increase in current liabilities. Essentially the business now has suppliers or short-term creditors funding about 25% of its operations, which isn't ideal. Keep an eye out for future increases because when the ratio of current liabilities to total assets gets particularly high, this can introduce some new risks for the business.

Our Take On Compucom Software's ROCE

To sum it up, Compucom Software is collecting higher returns from the same amount of capital, and that's impressive. And a remarkable 253% total return over the last five years tells us that investors are expecting more good things to come in the future. With that being said, we still think the promising fundamentals mean the company deserves some further due diligence.

Compucom Software does come with some risks though, we found 3 warning signs in our investment analysis, and 1 of those doesn't sit too well with us...

While Compucom Software 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.