Manaksia Aluminium (NSE:MANAKALUCO) Is Experiencing Growth In Returns On Capital

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. If you see this, it typically means it's a company with a great business model and plenty of profitable reinvestment opportunities. Speaking of which, we noticed some great changes in Manaksia Aluminium's (NSE:MANAKALUCO) returns on capital, so let's have a look.

What is 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 Manaksia Aluminium is:

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

0.11 = ₹157m ÷ (₹3.2b - ₹1.8b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2021).

Therefore, Manaksia Aluminium has an ROCE of 11%. In isolation, that's a pretty standard return but against the Metals and Mining industry average of 16%, it's not as good.

See our latest analysis for Manaksia Aluminium

Historical performance is a great place to start when researching a stock so above you can see the gauge for Manaksia Aluminium's ROCE against it's prior returns. If you'd like to look at how Manaksia Aluminium has performed in the past in other metrics, you can view this free graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow.

How Are Returns Trending?

We're delighted to see that Manaksia Aluminium is reaping rewards from its investments and has now broken into profitability. The company now earns 11% on its capital, because five years ago it was incurring losses. Interestingly, the capital employed by the business has remained relatively flat, so these higher returns are either from prior investments paying off or increased efficiencies. That being said, while an increase in efficiency is no doubt appealing, it'd be helpful to know if the company does have any investment plans going forward. Because in the end, a business can only get so efficient.

For the record though, there was a noticeable increase in the company's current liabilities over the period, so we would attribute some of the ROCE growth to that. Effectively this means that suppliers or short-term creditors are now funding 55% of the business, which is more than it was five years ago. Given it's pretty high ratio, we'd remind investors that having current liabilities at those levels can bring about some risks in certain businesses.

The Bottom Line

In summary, we're delighted to see that Manaksia Aluminium has been able to increase efficiencies and earn higher rates of return on the same amount of capital. And a remarkable 260% total return over the last five years tells us that investors are expecting more good things to come in the future. Therefore, we think it would be worth your time to check if these trends are going to continue.

If you'd like to know more about Manaksia Aluminium, we've spotted 3 warning signs, and 1 of them is significant.

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.

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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