Capital Allocation Trends At Bittnet Systems (BVB:BNET) Aren't Ideal

If we want to find a potential multi-bagger, often there are underlying trends that can provide clues. Firstly, we'll want to see a proven return on capital employed (ROCE) that is increasing, and secondly, an expanding base of capital employed. This shows us that it's a compounding machine, able to continually reinvest its earnings back into the business and generate higher returns. In light of that, when we looked at Bittnet Systems (BVB:BNET) and its ROCE trend, we weren't exactly thrilled.

Understanding 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 Bittnet Systems:

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

0.061 = RON3.9m ÷ (RON102m - RON39m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2020).

So, Bittnet Systems has an ROCE of 6.1%. In absolute terms, that's a low return and it also under-performs the IT industry average of 12%.

View our latest analysis for Bittnet Systems

Above you can see how the current ROCE for Bittnet Systems compares to its prior returns on capital, but there's only so much you can tell from the past. If you'd like, you can check out the forecasts from the analysts covering Bittnet Systems here for free.

So How Is Bittnet Systems' ROCE Trending?

On the surface, the trend of ROCE at Bittnet Systems doesn't inspire confidence. Over the last five years, returns on capital have decreased to 6.1% from 27% five years ago. 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. If these investments prove successful, this can bode very well for long term stock performance.

On a side note, Bittnet Systems has done well to pay down its current liabilities to 38% of total assets. So we could link some of this to the decrease in ROCE. 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

Even though returns on capital have fallen in the short term, we find it promising that revenue and capital employed have both increased for Bittnet Systems. However, total returns to shareholders over the last year have been flat, which could indicate these growth trends potentially aren't accounted for yet by investors. So we think it'd be worthwhile to look further into this stock given the trends look encouraging.

If you'd like to know more about Bittnet Systems, we've spotted 4 warning signs, and 2 of them are significant.

While Bittnet Systems 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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