When we're researching a company, it's sometimes hard to find the warning signs, but there are some financial metrics that can help spot trouble early. A business that's potentially in decline often shows two trends, a return on capital employed (ROCE) that's declining, and a base of capital employed that's also declining. This indicates to us that the business is not only shrinking the size of its net assets, but its returns are falling as well. On that note, looking into UFO Moviez India (NSE:UFO), we weren't too upbeat about how things were going.
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 UFO Moviez India is:
Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) ÷ (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)
0.062 = ₹248m ÷ (₹5.4b - ₹1.4b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2024).
Thus, UFO Moviez India has an ROCE of 6.2%. Even though it's in line with the industry average of 6.2%, it's still a low return by itself.
Check out our latest analysis for UFO Moviez India
Historical performance is a great place to start when researching a stock so above you can see the gauge for UFO Moviez India's ROCE against it's prior returns. If you're interested in investigating UFO Moviez India's past further, check out this free graph covering UFO Moviez India's past earnings, revenue and cash flow.
So How Is UFO Moviez India's ROCE Trending?
In terms of UFO Moviez India's historical ROCE movements, the trend doesn't inspire confidence. Unfortunately the returns on capital have diminished from the 18% that they were earning five years ago. Meanwhile, capital employed in the business has stayed roughly the flat over the period. Since returns are falling and the business has the same amount of assets employed, this can suggest it's a mature business that hasn't had much growth in the last five years. So because these trends aren't typically conducive to creating a multi-bagger, we wouldn't hold our breath on UFO Moviez India becoming one if things continue as they have.
The Key Takeaway
All in all, the lower returns from the same amount of capital employed aren't exactly signs of a compounding machine. And, the stock has remained flat over the last five years, so investors don't seem too impressed either. With underlying trends that aren't great in these areas, we'd consider looking elsewhere.
On a final note, we've found 2 warning signs for UFO Moviez India that we think you should be aware of.
While UFO Moviez 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.
Valuation is complex, but we're here to simplify it.
Discover if UFO Moviez India might be undervalued or overvalued with our detailed analysis, featuring fair value estimates, potential risks, dividends, insider trades, and its financial condition.
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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.