Here's What's Concerning About Gadang Holdings Berhad's (KLSE:GADANG) Returns On Capital

Did you know there are some financial metrics that can provide clues of a potential multi-bagger? Firstly, we'll want to see a proven return on capital employed (ROCE) that is increasing, and secondly, an expanding base of capital employed. Ultimately, this demonstrates that it's a business that is reinvesting profits at increasing rates of return. In light of that, when we looked at Gadang Holdings Berhad (KLSE:GADANG) and its ROCE trend, we weren't exactly thrilled.

Understanding 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 Gadang Holdings Berhad:

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

0.011 = RM14m ÷ (RM1.8b - RM516m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to February 2021).

Therefore, Gadang Holdings Berhad has an ROCE of 1.1%. Ultimately, that's a low return and it under-performs the Construction industry average of 6.2%.

See our latest analysis for Gadang Holdings Berhad

Above you can see how the current ROCE for Gadang Holdings Berhad compares to its prior returns on capital, but there's only so much you can tell from the past. If you're interested, you can view the analysts predictions in our free report on analyst forecasts for the company.

What The Trend Of ROCE Can Tell Us

In terms of Gadang Holdings Berhad's historical ROCE movements, the trend isn't fantastic. To be more specific, ROCE has fallen from 16% over the last five years. Given the business is employing more capital while revenue has slipped, this is a bit concerning. This could mean that the business is losing its competitive advantage or market share, because while more money is being put into ventures, it's actually producing a lower return - "less bang for their buck" per se.

In Conclusion...

From the above analysis, we find it rather worrisome that returns on capital and sales for Gadang Holdings Berhad have fallen, meanwhile the business is employing more capital than it was five years ago. Long term shareholders who've owned the stock over the last five years have experienced a 45% depreciation in their investment, so it appears the market might not like these trends either. With underlying trends that aren't great in these areas, we'd consider looking elsewhere.

Gadang Holdings Berhad does come with some risks though, we found 5 warning signs in our investment analysis, and 1 of those is concerning...

While Gadang Holdings Berhad isn't earning the highest return, check out this free list of companies that are earning high returns on equity with solid balance sheets.

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