EG Industries Berhad (KLSE:EG) Could Be Struggling To Allocate Capital

What are the early trends we should look for to identify a stock that could multiply in value over the long term? 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. This shows us that it's a compounding machine, able to continually reinvest its earnings back into the business and generate higher returns. However, after investigating EG Industries Berhad (KLSE:EG), we don't think it's current trends fit the mold of a multi-bagger.

Understanding Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)

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 EG Industries Berhad is:

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

0.065 = RM29m ÷ (RM1.1b - RM643m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2022).

Therefore, EG Industries Berhad has an ROCE of 6.5%. Ultimately, that's a low return and it under-performs the Consumer Durables industry average of 11%.

See our latest analysis for EG Industries 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 want to delve into the historical earnings, revenue and cash flow of EG Industries Berhad, check out these free graphs here.

What Does the ROCE Trend For EG Industries Berhad Tell Us?

On the surface, the trend of ROCE at EG Industries Berhad doesn't inspire confidence. To be more specific, ROCE has fallen from 8.1% over the last five years. However, given capital employed and revenue have both increased it appears that the business is currently pursuing growth, at the consequence of short term returns. And if the increased capital generates additional returns, the business, and thus shareholders, will benefit in the long run.

On a side note, EG Industries Berhad's current liabilities have increased over the last five years to 59% of total assets, effectively distorting the ROCE to some degree. Without this increase, it's likely that ROCE would be even lower than 6.5%. What this means is that in reality, a rather large portion of the business is being funded by the likes of the company's suppliers or short-term creditors, which can bring some risks of its own.

The Bottom Line On EG Industries Berhad's ROCE

While returns have fallen for EG Industries Berhad in recent times, we're encouraged to see that sales are growing and that the business is reinvesting in its operations. And long term investors must be optimistic going forward because the stock has returned a huge 126% to shareholders in the last five years. So while investors seem to be recognizing these promising trends, we would look further into this stock to make sure the other metrics justify the positive view.

EG Industries Berhad does come with some risks though, we found 4 warning signs in our investment analysis, and 2 of those are potentially serious...

While EG Industries Berhad 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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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.