What Do The Returns On Capital At Tat Seng Packaging Group (SGX:T12) Tell Us?

There are a few key trends to look for if we want to identify the next multi-bagger. Firstly, we'd want to identify a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and then alongside that, an ever-increasing base of capital employed. Put simply, these types of businesses are compounding machines, meaning they are continually reinvesting their earnings at ever-higher rates of return. However, after briefly looking over the numbers, we don't think Tat Seng Packaging Group (SGX:T12) 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?

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 Tat Seng Packaging Group, this is the formula:

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

0.13 = S$23m ÷ (S$276m - S$102m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2020).

Thus, Tat Seng Packaging Group has an ROCE of 13%. In absolute terms, that's a satisfactory return, but compared to the Packaging industry average of 10% it's much better.

Check out our latest analysis for Tat Seng Packaging Group

While the past is not representative of the future, it can be helpful to know how a company has performed historically, which is why we have this chart above. If you're interested in investigating Tat Seng Packaging Group's past further, check out this free graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow.

What The Trend Of ROCE Can Tell Us

On the surface, the trend of ROCE at Tat Seng Packaging Group doesn't inspire confidence. Over the last five years, returns on capital have decreased to 13% from 17% five years ago. And considering revenue has dropped while employing more capital, we'd be cautious. If this were to continue, you might be looking at a company that is trying to reinvest for growth but is actually losing market share since sales haven't increased.

On a side note, Tat Seng Packaging Group has done well to pay down its current liabilities to 37% of total assets. So we could link some of this to the decrease in ROCE. 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 On Tat Seng Packaging Group's ROCE

From the above analysis, we find it rather worrisome that returns on capital and sales for Tat Seng Packaging Group have fallen, meanwhile the business is employing more capital than it was five years ago. Since the stock has skyrocketed 103% over the last five years, it looks like investors have high expectations of the stock. In any case, the current underlying trends don't bode well for long term performance so unless they reverse, we'd start looking elsewhere.

One more thing, we've spotted 3 warning signs facing Tat Seng Packaging Group that you might find interesting.

While Tat Seng Packaging Group 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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