BinDawood Holding's (TADAWUL:4161) Returns On Capital Not Reflecting Well On The Business

If you're looking for a multi-bagger, there's a few things to keep an eye out for. One common approach is to try and find a company with returns on capital employed (ROCE) that are increasing, in conjunction with a growing amount of capital employed. Basically this means that a company has profitable initiatives that it can continue to reinvest in, which is a trait of a compounding machine. However, after briefly looking over the numbers, we don't think BinDawood Holding (TADAWUL:4161) has the makings of a multi-bagger going forward, but let's have a look at why that may be.

Understanding 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. To calculate this metric for BinDawood Holding, this is the formula:

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

0.053 = ر.س187m ÷ (ر.س5.1b - ر.س1.5b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2023).

So, BinDawood Holding has an ROCE of 5.3%. In absolute terms, that's a low return and it also under-performs the Consumer Retailing industry average of 13%.

Check out our latest analysis for BinDawood Holding

Above you can see how the current ROCE for BinDawood 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 The Trend Of ROCE Can Tell Us

On the surface, the trend of ROCE at BinDawood Holding doesn't inspire confidence. Around five years ago the returns on capital were 38%, but since then they've fallen to 5.3%. 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. And if the increased capital generates additional returns, the business, and thus shareholders, will benefit in the long run.

On a side note, BinDawood Holding has done well to pay down its current liabilities to 30% 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...

In summary, despite lower returns in the short term, we're encouraged to see that BinDawood Holding is reinvesting for growth and has higher sales as a result. However, despite the promising trends, the stock has fallen 47% over the last three years, so there might be an opportunity here for astute investors. As a result, we'd recommend researching this stock further to uncover what other fundamentals of the business can show us.

Like most companies, BinDawood Holding does come with some risks, and we've found 3 warning signs that you should be aware of.

While BinDawood Holding 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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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.