Investors Could Be Concerned With BinDawood Holding's (TADAWUL:4161) Returns On Capital

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. 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.

Return On Capital Employed (ROCE): What Is It?

If you haven't worked with ROCE before, it measures the 'return' (pre-tax profit) a company generates from capital employed in its business. Analysts use this formula to calculate it for BinDawood Holding:

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

0.075 = ر.س262m ÷ (ر.س5.0b - ر.س1.5b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2023).

Thus, BinDawood Holding has an ROCE of 7.5%. Ultimately, that's a low return and it under-performs the Consumer Retailing industry average of 13%.

See our latest analysis for BinDawood Holding

In the above chart we have measured BinDawood Holding'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 analyst report for BinDawood Holding .

What Can We Tell From BinDawood Holding's ROCE Trend?

When we looked at the ROCE trend at BinDawood Holding, we didn't gain much confidence. Over the last five years, returns on capital have decreased to 7.5% from 36% five years ago. Although, given both revenue and the amount of assets employed in the business have increased, it could suggest the company is investing in growth, and the extra capital has led to a short-term reduction in ROCE. And if the increased capital generates additional returns, the business, and thus shareholders, will benefit in the long run.

On a related note, BinDawood Holding has decreased its current liabilities to 29% of total assets. That could partly explain why the ROCE has dropped. Effectively this means their suppliers or short-term creditors are funding less of the business, which reduces some elements of risk. 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.

The Bottom Line

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, total returns to shareholders over the last three years 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.

On a final note, we've found 2 warning signs for BinDawood Holding that we think you should be aware of.

If you want to search for solid companies with great earnings, check out this free list of companies with good balance sheets and impressive 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.