There Are Reasons To Feel Uneasy About Sumitomo Chemical India's (NSE:SUMICHEM) Returns On Capital

Did you know there are some financial metrics that can provide clues of a potential 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. Ultimately, this demonstrates that it's a business that is reinvesting profits at increasing rates of return. Although, when we looked at Sumitomo Chemical India (NSE:SUMICHEM), it didn't seem to tick all of these boxes.

Understanding Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)

Just to clarify if you're unsure, ROCE is a metric for evaluating how much pre-tax income (in percentage terms) a company earns on the capital invested in its business. The formula for this calculation on Sumitomo Chemical India is:

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

0.16 = ₹4.2b ÷ (₹35b - ₹9.5b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2023).

So, Sumitomo Chemical India has an ROCE of 16%. That's a relatively normal return on capital, and it's around the 14% generated by the Chemicals industry.

Check out our latest analysis for Sumitomo Chemical India

Above you can see how the current ROCE for Sumitomo Chemical India compares to its prior returns on capital, but there's only so much you can tell from the past. If you'd like to see what analysts are forecasting going forward, you should check out our free report for Sumitomo Chemical India.

So How Is Sumitomo Chemical India's ROCE Trending?

When we looked at the ROCE trend at Sumitomo Chemical India, we didn't gain much confidence. Over the last five years, returns on capital have decreased to 16% from 23% five years ago. Given the business is employing more capital while revenue has slipped, this is a bit concerning. If this were to continue, you might be looking at a company that is trying to reinvest for growth but is actually losing market share since sales haven't increased.

On a side note, Sumitomo Chemical India has done well to pay down its current liabilities to 27% of total assets. So we could link some of this to the decrease in ROCE. What's more, this can reduce some aspects of risk to the business because now the company's suppliers or short-term creditors are funding less of its operations. Some would claim this reduces the business' efficiency at generating ROCE since it is now funding more of the operations with its own money.

The Bottom Line

In summary, we're somewhat concerned by Sumitomo Chemical India's diminishing returns on increasing amounts of capital. However the stock has delivered a 40% return to shareholders over the last three years, so investors might be expecting the trends to turn around. In any case, the current underlying trends don't bode well for long term performance so unless they reverse, we'd start looking elsewhere.

Sumitomo Chemical India could be trading at an attractive price in other respects, so you might find our free intrinsic value estimation on our platform quite valuable.

While Sumitomo Chemical India isn't earning the highest return, check out this free list of companies that are earning high returns on equity with solid balance sheets.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

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.