Returns On Capital At Prysmian (BIT:PRY) Have Hit The Brakes

If we want to find a potential multi-bagger, often there are underlying trends that can provide clues. Amongst other things, we'll want to see two things; firstly, a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and secondly, an expansion in the company's 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. That's why when we briefly looked at Prysmian's (BIT:PRY) ROCE trend, we were pretty happy with 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. The formula for this calculation on Prysmian is:

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

0.11 = €802m ÷ (€13b - €5.6b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2022).

So, Prysmian has an ROCE of 11%. In absolute terms, that's a pretty standard return but compared to the Electrical industry average it falls behind.

See our latest analysis for Prysmian

In the above chart we have measured Prysmian's prior ROCE against its prior performance, but the future is arguably more important. If you'd like, you can check out the forecasts from the analysts covering Prysmian here for free.

What Does the ROCE Trend For Prysmian Tell Us?

While the current returns on capital are decent, they haven't changed much. The company has employed 98% more capital in the last five years, and the returns on that capital have remained stable at 11%. 11% is a pretty standard return, and it provides some comfort knowing that Prysmian has consistently earned this amount. Over long periods of time, returns like these might not be too exciting, but with consistency they can pay off in terms of share price returns.

On a side note, Prysmian's current liabilities are still rather high at 44% of total assets. This can bring about some risks because the company is basically operating with a rather large reliance on its suppliers or other sorts of short-term creditors. Ideally we'd like to see this reduce as that would mean fewer obligations bearing risks.

The Key Takeaway

The main thing to remember is that Prysmian has proven its ability to continually reinvest at respectable rates of return. Therefore it's no surprise that shareholders have earned a respectable 57% return if they held over the last five years. So while the positive underlying trends may be accounted for by investors, we still think this stock is worth looking into further.

Prysmian does have some risks though, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for Prysmian that you might be interested in.

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.

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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.