Investors Will Want Zee Media's (NSE:ZEEMEDIA) Growth In ROCE To Persist

To find a multi-bagger stock, what are the underlying trends we should look for in a business? Typically, we'll want to notice a trend of growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and alongside that, an expanding base of capital employed. This shows us that it's a compounding machine, able to continually reinvest its earnings back into the business and generate higher returns. Speaking of which, we noticed some great changes in Zee Media's (NSE:ZEEMEDIA) returns on capital, so let's have a look.

Understanding Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)

If you haven't worked with ROCE before, it measures the 'return' (pre-tax profit) a company generates from capital employed in its business. Analysts use this formula to calculate it for Zee Media:

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

0.068 = ₹427m ÷ (₹10b - ₹3.8b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2022).

Therefore, Zee Media has an ROCE of 6.8%. In absolute terms, that's a low return and it also under-performs the Media industry average of 9.5%.

Check out our latest analysis for Zee Media

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

What The Trend Of ROCE Can Tell Us

Zee Media has not disappointed with their ROCE growth. More specifically, while the company has kept capital employed relatively flat over the last five years, the ROCE has climbed 31% in that same time. So it's likely that the business is now reaping the full benefits of its past investments, since the capital employed hasn't changed considerably. The company is doing well in that sense, and it's worth investigating what the management team has planned for long term growth prospects.

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. Essentially the business now has suppliers or short-term creditors funding about 38% of its operations, which isn't ideal. It's worth keeping an eye on this because as the percentage of current liabilities to total assets increases, some aspects of risk also increase.

The Bottom Line On Zee Media's ROCE

To bring it all together, Zee Media has done well to increase the returns it's generating from its capital employed. Although the company may be facing some issues elsewhere since the stock has plunged 77% in the last five years. Regardless, we think the underlying fundamentals warrant this stock for further investigation.

On a final note, we found 2 warning signs for Zee Media (1 is a bit unpleasant) 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.

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.