Sungdo Engineering & Construction (KOSDAQ:037350) Will Want To Turn Around Its Return Trends

If you're not sure where to start when looking for the next multi-bagger, there are a few key trends you should keep an eye out for. In a perfect world, we'd like to see a company investing more capital into its business and ideally the returns earned from that capital are also increasing. Basically this means that a company has profitable initiatives that it can continue to reinvest in, which is a trait of a compounding machine. However, after investigating Sungdo Engineering & Construction (KOSDAQ:037350), we don't think it's current trends fit the mold of a multi-bagger.

What Is Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)?

For those who don't know, ROCE is a measure of a company's yearly pre-tax profit (its return), relative to the capital employed in the business. Analysts use this formula to calculate it for Sungdo Engineering & Construction:

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

0.042 = ₩15b ÷ (₩676b - ₩314b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2024).

So, Sungdo Engineering & Construction has an ROCE of 4.2%. Ultimately, that's a low return and it under-performs the Construction industry average of 6.0%.

Check out our latest analysis for Sungdo Engineering & Construction

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 , check out these free graphs detailing revenue and cash flow performance of Sungdo Engineering & Construction.

The Trend Of ROCE

In terms of Sungdo Engineering & Construction's historical ROCE movements, the trend isn't fantastic. To be more specific, ROCE has fallen from 7.6% over the last five years. However it looks like Sungdo Engineering & Construction might be reinvesting for long term growth because while capital employed has increased, the company's sales haven't changed much in the last 12 months. It's worth keeping an eye on the company's earnings from here on to see if these investments do end up contributing to the bottom line.

On a separate but related note, it's important to know that Sungdo Engineering & Construction has a current liabilities to total assets ratio of 46%, which we'd consider pretty high. This effectively means that suppliers (or short-term creditors) are funding a large portion of the business, so just be aware that this can introduce some elements of risk. Ideally we'd like to see this reduce as that would mean fewer obligations bearing risks.

The Bottom Line

Bringing it all together, while we're somewhat encouraged by Sungdo Engineering & Construction's reinvestment in its own business, we're aware that returns are shrinking. And investors appear hesitant that the trends will pick up because the stock has fallen 13% in the last five years. On the whole, we aren't too inspired by the underlying trends and we think there may be better chances of finding a multi-bagger elsewhere.

On a separate note, we've found 3 warning signs for Sungdo Engineering & Construction you'll probably want to know about.

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.

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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.