Returns On Capital Signal Tricky Times Ahead For Turbomecanica (BVB:TBM)

If we want to find a stock that could multiply over the long term, what are the underlying trends we should look for? Amongst other things, we'll want to see two things; firstly, a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and secondly, an expansion in the company's amount of capital employed. Ultimately, this demonstrates that it's a business that is reinvesting profits at increasing rates of return. Having said that, from a first glance at Turbomecanica (BVB:TBM) we aren't jumping out of our chairs at how returns are trending, but let's have a deeper look.

Understanding Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)

If you haven't worked with ROCE before, it measures the 'return' (pre-tax profit) a company generates from capital employed in its business. The formula for this calculation on Turbomecanica is:

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

0.14 = RON18m ÷ (RON177m - RON48m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2021).

Thus, Turbomecanica has an ROCE of 14%. In absolute terms, that's a satisfactory return, but compared to the Aerospace & Defense industry average of 8.7% it's much better.

View our latest analysis for Turbomecanica

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 Turbomecanica, check out these free graphs here.

What The Trend Of ROCE Can Tell Us

When we looked at the ROCE trend at Turbomecanica, we didn't gain much confidence. To be more specific, ROCE has fallen from 43% over the last five years. However it looks like Turbomecanica might be reinvesting for long term growth because while capital employed has increased, the company's sales haven't changed much in the last 12 months. It's worth keeping an eye on the company's earnings from here on to see if these investments do end up contributing to the bottom line.

On a side note, Turbomecanica has done well to pay down its current liabilities to 27% of total assets. That could partly explain why the ROCE has dropped. What's more, this can reduce some aspects of risk to the business because now the company's suppliers or short-term creditors are funding less of its operations. Some would claim this reduces the business' efficiency at generating ROCE since it is now funding more of the operations with its own money.

The Bottom Line On Turbomecanica's ROCE

Bringing it all together, while we're somewhat encouraged by Turbomecanica's reinvestment in its own business, we're aware that returns are shrinking. Since the stock has gained an impressive 60% over the last five years, investors must think there's better things to come. Ultimately, if the underlying trends persist, we wouldn't hold our breath on it being a multi-bagger going forward.

Turbomecanica does come with some risks though, we found 2 warning signs in our investment analysis, and 1 of those is concerning...

For those who like to invest in solid companies, check out this free list of companies with solid balance sheets and high returns on equity.

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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.