The Trends At SCC Holdings Berhad (KLSE:SCC) That You Should Know About

Did you know there are some financial metrics that can provide clues of a potential multi-bagger? Typically, we'll want to notice a trend of growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and alongside that, an expanding base 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. Although, when we looked at SCC Holdings Berhad (KLSE:SCC), it didn't seem to tick all of these boxes.

What is Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)?

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. Analysts use this formula to calculate it for SCC Holdings Berhad:

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

0.058 = RM2.5m ÷ (RM49m - RM6.4m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2020).

Therefore, SCC Holdings Berhad has an ROCE of 5.8%. On its own that's a low return on capital but it's in line with the industry's average returns of 6.3%.

Check out our latest analysis for SCC Holdings Berhad

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're interested in investigating SCC Holdings Berhad's past further, check out this free graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow.

What Can We Tell From SCC Holdings Berhad's ROCE Trend?

On the surface, the trend of ROCE at SCC Holdings Berhad doesn't inspire confidence. To be more specific, ROCE has fallen from 26% over the last five years. Given the business is employing more capital while revenue has slipped, this is a bit concerning. If this were to continue, you might be looking at a company that is trying to reinvest for growth but is actually losing market share since sales haven't increased.

The Key Takeaway

In summary, we're somewhat concerned by SCC Holdings Berhad's diminishing returns on increasing amounts of capital. And, the stock has remained flat over the last five years, so investors don't seem too impressed either. Unless there is a shift to a more positive trajectory in these metrics, we would look elsewhere.

One more thing: We've identified 3 warning signs with SCC Holdings Berhad (at least 1 which is concerning) , and understanding them would certainly be useful.

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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