Returns At Sarawak Oil Palms Berhad (KLSE:SOP) Appear To Be Weighed Down

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. Firstly, we'll want to see a proven return on capital employed (ROCE) that is increasing, and secondly, an expanding base of capital employed. Basically this means that a company has profitable initiatives that it can continue to reinvest in, which is a trait of a compounding machine. So, when we ran our eye over Sarawak Oil Palms Berhad's (KLSE:SOP) trend of ROCE, we liked what we saw.

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 Sarawak Oil Palms Berhad:

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

0.11 = RM463m ÷ (RM5.0b - RM632m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2023).

Thus, Sarawak Oil Palms Berhad has an ROCE of 11%. In absolute terms, that's a satisfactory return, but compared to the Food industry average of 8.5% it's much better.

View our latest analysis for Sarawak Oil Palms Berhad

Above you can see how the current ROCE for Sarawak Oil Palms Berhad compares to its prior returns on capital, but there's only so much you can tell from the past. If you'd like to see what analysts are forecasting going forward, you should check out our free report for Sarawak Oil Palms Berhad.

How Are Returns Trending?

While the returns on capital are good, they haven't moved much. The company has consistently earned 11% for the last five years, and the capital employed within the business has risen 26% in that time. Since 11% is a moderate ROCE though, it's good to see a business can continue to reinvest at these decent rates of return. Over long periods of time, returns like these might not be too exciting, but with consistency they can pay off in terms of share price returns.

In Conclusion...

In the end, Sarawak Oil Palms Berhad has proven its ability to adequately reinvest capital at good rates of return. And since the stock has risen strongly over the last five years, it appears the market might expect this trend to continue. So even though the stock might be more "expensive" than it was before, we think the strong fundamentals warrant this stock for further research.

On a final note, we found 3 warning signs for Sarawak Oil Palms Berhad (1 makes us a bit uncomfortable) you should be aware of.

While Sarawak Oil Palms 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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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.