Returns On Capital At PJSC Tatneft (MCX:TATN) Have Stalled

If we want to find a stock that could multiply over the long term, what are the underlying trends we should look for? 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. Put simply, these types of businesses are compounding machines, meaning they are continually reinvesting their earnings at ever-higher rates of return. With that in mind, the ROCE of PJSC Tatneft (MCX:TATN) looks decent, right now, so lets see what the trend of returns can tell us.

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 PJSC Tatneft is:

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

0.19 = ₽197b ÷ (₽1.4t - ₽350b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2021).

Therefore, PJSC Tatneft has an ROCE of 19%. In absolute terms, that's a satisfactory return, but compared to the Oil and Gas industry average of 10% it's much better.

See our latest analysis for PJSC Tatneft

In the above chart we have measured PJSC Tatneft's prior ROCE against its prior performance, but the future is arguably more important. If you'd like to see what analysts are forecasting going forward, you should check out our free report for PJSC Tatneft.

What The Trend Of ROCE Can Tell Us

While the returns on capital are good, they haven't moved much. The company has employed 45% more capital in the last five years, and the returns on that capital have remained stable at 19%. 19% is a pretty standard return, and it provides some comfort knowing that PJSC Tatneft has consistently earned this amount. Stable returns in this ballpark can be unexciting, but if they can be maintained over the long run, they often provide nice rewards to shareholders.

Another point to note, we noticed the company has increased current liabilities over the last five years. This is intriguing because if current liabilities hadn't increased to 25% of total assets, this reported ROCE would probably be less than19% because total capital employed would be higher.The 19% ROCE could be even lower if current liabilities weren't 25% of total assets, because the the formula would show a larger base of total capital employed. With that in mind, just be wary if this ratio increases in the future, because if it gets particularly high, this brings with it some new elements of risk.

In Conclusion...

To sum it up, PJSC Tatneft has simply been reinvesting capital steadily, at those decent 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 while the positive underlying trends may be accounted for by investors, we still think this stock is worth looking into further.

On a final note, we've found 1 warning sign for PJSC Tatneft that we think you should be aware of.

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.

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.

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