Bin Dawood Holding (TADAWUL:4161) May Have Issues Allocating Its Capital

There are a few key trends to look for if we want to identify the next multi-bagger. 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. This shows us that it's a compounding machine, able to continually reinvest its earnings back into the business and generate higher returns. Although, when we looked at Bin Dawood Holding (TADAWUL:4161), it didn't seem to tick all of these boxes.

What is Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)?

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. Analysts use this formula to calculate it for Bin Dawood Holding:

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

0.10 = ر.س363m ÷ (ر.س4.6b - ر.س931m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2021).

Thus, Bin Dawood Holding has an ROCE of 10%. That's a relatively normal return on capital, and it's around the 8.8% generated by the Consumer Retailing industry.

Check out our latest analysis for Bin Dawood Holding

Above you can see how the current ROCE for Bin Dawood Holding compares to its prior returns on capital, but there's only so much you can tell from the past. If you're interested, you can view the analysts predictions in our free report on analyst forecasts for the company.

What Can We Tell From Bin Dawood Holding's ROCE Trend?

When we looked at the ROCE trend at Bin Dawood Holding, we didn't gain much confidence. Around four years ago the returns on capital were 44%, but since then they've fallen to 10%. Given the business is employing more capital while revenue has slipped, this is a bit concerning. This could mean that the business is losing its competitive advantage or market share, because while more money is being put into ventures, it's actually producing a lower return - "less bang for their buck" per se.

On a related note, Bin Dawood Holding has decreased its current liabilities to 20% 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. Since the business is basically funding more of its operations with it's own money, you could argue this has made the business less efficient at generating ROCE.

In Conclusion...

From the above analysis, we find it rather worrisome that returns on capital and sales for Bin Dawood Holding have fallen, meanwhile the business is employing more capital than it was four years ago. Long term shareholders who've owned the stock over the last year have experienced a 16% depreciation in their investment, so it appears the market might not like these trends either. With underlying trends that aren't great in these areas, we'd consider looking elsewhere.

On a separate note, we've found 2 warning signs for Bin Dawood Holding you'll probably want to know about.

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.