Phillips Carbon Black (NSE:PHILIPCARB) Is Experiencing Growth In Returns On Capital

There are a few key trends to look for if we want to identify the next multi-bagger. Firstly, we'd want to identify a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and then alongside that, an ever-increasing base 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. So when we looked at Phillips Carbon Black (NSE:PHILIPCARB) and its trend of ROCE, we really liked what we saw.

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

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. Analysts use this formula to calculate it for Phillips Carbon Black:

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

0.20 = ₹5.2b ÷ (₹37b - ₹11b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2021).

Thus, Phillips Carbon Black has an ROCE of 20%. In absolute terms, that's a pretty normal return, and it's somewhat close to the Chemicals industry average of 17%.

Check out our latest analysis for Phillips Carbon Black

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 want to delve into the historical earnings, revenue and cash flow of Phillips Carbon Black, check out these free graphs here.

So How Is Phillips Carbon Black's ROCE Trending?

We like the trends that we're seeing from Phillips Carbon Black. The numbers show that in the last five years, the returns generated on capital employed have grown considerably to 20%. Basically the business is earning more per dollar of capital invested and in addition to that, 86% more capital is being employed now too. So we're very much inspired by what we're seeing at Phillips Carbon Black thanks to its ability to profitably reinvest capital.

On a related note, the company's ratio of current liabilities to total assets has decreased to 30%, which basically reduces it's funding from the likes of short-term creditors or suppliers. So shareholders would be pleased that the growth in returns has mostly come from underlying business performance.

The Bottom Line

In summary, it's great to see that Phillips Carbon Black can compound returns by consistently reinvesting capital at increasing rates of return, because these are some of the key ingredients of those highly sought after multi-baggers. And with the stock having performed exceptionally well over the last five years, these patterns are being accounted for by investors. Therefore, we think it would be worth your time to check if these trends are going to continue.

On a final note, we've found 1 warning sign for Phillips Carbon Black that we think you should be aware of.

For those who like to invest in solid companies, check out this free list of companies with solid balance sheets and 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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