Hubline Berhad (KLSE:HUBLINE) Will Be Looking To Turn Around Its Returns

What financial metrics can indicate to us that a company is maturing or even in decline? When we see a declining return on capital employed (ROCE) in conjunction with a declining base of capital employed, that's often how a mature business shows signs of aging. This combination can tell you that not only is the company investing less, it's earning less on what it does invest. On that note, looking into Hubline Berhad (KLSE:HUBLINE), we weren't too upbeat about how things were going.

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

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. To calculate this metric for Hubline Berhad, this is the formula:

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

0.031 = RM6.6m ÷ (RM299m - RM90m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2020).

So, Hubline Berhad has an ROCE of 3.1%. In absolute terms, that's a low return and it also under-performs the Shipping industry average of 4.6%.

View our latest analysis for Hubline 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'd like to look at how Hubline Berhad has performed in the past in other metrics, you can view this free graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow.

What Can We Tell From Hubline Berhad's ROCE Trend?

There is reason to be cautious about Hubline Berhad, given the returns are trending downwards. To be more specific, the ROCE was 9.6% five years ago, but since then it has dropped noticeably. On top of that, it's worth noting that the amount of capital employed within the business has remained relatively steady. This combination can be indicative of a mature business that still has areas to deploy capital, but the returns received aren't as high due potentially to new competition or smaller margins. If these trends continue, we wouldn't expect Hubline Berhad to turn into a multi-bagger.

The Bottom Line On Hubline Berhad's ROCE

All in all, the lower returns from the same amount of capital employed aren't exactly signs of a compounding machine. Unsurprisingly then, the stock has dived 78% over the last five years, so investors are recognizing these changes and don't like the company's prospects. That being the case, unless the underlying trends revert to a more positive trajectory, we'd consider looking elsewhere.

On a final note, we found 4 warning signs for Hubline Berhad (2 are concerning) you should be aware of.

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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