Solborn's (KOSDAQ:035610) Returns On Capital Are Heading Higher

Finding a business that has the potential to grow substantially is not easy, but it is possible if we look at a few key financial metrics. Ideally, a business will show two trends; firstly a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and secondly, an increasing amount of capital employed. Put simply, these types of businesses are compounding machines, meaning they are continually reinvesting their earnings at ever-higher rates of return. So on that note, Solborn (KOSDAQ:035610) looks quite promising in regards to its trends of return on capital.

Return On Capital Employed (ROCE): What is it?

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. To calculate this metric for Solborn, this is the formula:

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

0.037 = ₩7.2b ÷ (₩218b - ₩27b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2020).

Therefore, Solborn has an ROCE of 3.7%. Ultimately, that's a low return and it under-performs the Medical Equipment industry average of 13%.

Check out our latest analysis for Solborn

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'd like to look at how Solborn has performed in the past in other metrics, you can view this free graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow.

What Does the ROCE Trend For Solborn Tell Us?

Even though ROCE is still low in absolute terms, it's good to see it's heading in the right direction. Looking at the data, we can see that even though capital employed in the business has remained relatively flat, the ROCE generated has risen by 115% over the last five years. Basically the business is generating higher returns from the same amount of capital and that is proof that there are improvements in the company's efficiencies. On that front, things are looking good so it's worth exploring what management has said about growth plans going forward.

The Bottom Line

To sum it up, Solborn is collecting higher returns from the same amount of capital, and that's impressive. Considering the stock has delivered 37% to its stockholders over the last five years, it may be fair to think that investors aren't fully aware of the promising trends yet. Given that, we'd look further into this stock in case it has more traits that could make it multiply in the long term.

Solborn does have some risks though, and we've spotted 2 warning signs for Solborn that you might be interested in.

While Solborn may not currently earn the highest returns, we've compiled a list of companies that currently earn more than 25% return on equity. Check out this free list here.

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