Here's What To Make Of KCP's (NSE:KCP) Decelerating Rates Of Return

To find a multi-bagger stock, what are the underlying trends we should look for in a business? 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. Basically this means that a company has profitable initiatives that it can continue to reinvest in, which is a trait of a compounding machine. That's why when we briefly looked at KCP's (NSE:KCP) ROCE trend, we were pretty 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. To calculate this metric for KCP, this is the formula:

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

0.13 = ₹2.3b ÷ (₹24b - ₹6.3b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2022).

So, KCP has an ROCE of 13%. In absolute terms, that's a satisfactory return, but compared to the Basic Materials industry average of 10% it's much better.

View our latest analysis for KCP

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're interested in investigating KCP's past further, check out this free graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow.

What Does the ROCE Trend For KCP Tell Us?

While the returns on capital are good, they haven't moved much. The company has employed 44% more capital in the last five years, and the returns on that capital have remained stable at 13%. Since 13% is a moderate ROCE though, it's good to see a business can continue to reinvest at these decent rates of return. Stable returns in this ballpark can be unexciting, but if they can be maintained over the long run, they often provide nice rewards to shareholders.

Our Take On KCP's ROCE

The main thing to remember is that KCP has proven its ability to continually reinvest at respectable rates of return. However, over the last five years, the stock has only delivered a 4.6% return to shareholders who held over that period. So because of the trends we're seeing, we'd recommend looking further into this stock to see if it has the makings of a multi-bagger.

If you'd like to know about the risks facing KCP, we've discovered 2 warning signs that you should be aware of.

If you want to search for solid companies with great earnings, check out this free list of companies with good balance sheets and impressive 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.