Capital Allocation Trends At Insimbi Industrial Holdings (JSE:ISB) Aren't Ideal

What are the early trends we should look for to identify a stock that could multiply in value over the long term? Typically, we'll want to notice a trend of growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and alongside that, an expanding base of capital employed. Ultimately, this demonstrates that it's a business that is reinvesting profits at increasing rates of return. In light of that, when we looked at Insimbi Industrial Holdings (JSE:ISB) and its ROCE trend, we weren't exactly thrilled.

Return On Capital Employed (ROCE): What is it?

For those that aren't sure what ROCE is, it measures the amount of pre-tax profits a company can generate from the capital employed in its business. Analysts use this formula to calculate it for Insimbi Industrial Holdings:

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

0.13 = R114m ÷ (R1.6b - R764m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to February 2021).

Thus, Insimbi Industrial Holdings has an ROCE of 13%. In absolute terms, that's a pretty normal return, and it's somewhat close to the Trade Distributors industry average of 12%.

View our latest analysis for Insimbi Industrial Holdings

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'd like to look at how Insimbi Industrial Holdings has performed in the past in other metrics, you can view this free graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow.

How Are Returns Trending?

When we looked at the ROCE trend at Insimbi Industrial Holdings, we didn't gain much confidence. Around five years ago the returns on capital were 20%, but since then they've fallen to 13%. Meanwhile, the business is utilizing more capital but this hasn't moved the needle much in terms of sales in the past 12 months, so this could reflect longer term investments. It's worth keeping an eye on the company's earnings from here on to see if these investments do end up contributing to the bottom line.

On a separate but related note, it's important to know that Insimbi Industrial Holdings has a current liabilities to total assets ratio of 47%, which we'd consider pretty high. This can bring about some risks because the company is basically operating with a rather large reliance on its suppliers or other sorts of short-term creditors. While it's not necessarily a bad thing, it can be beneficial if this ratio is lower.

The Bottom Line

In summary, Insimbi Industrial Holdings is reinvesting funds back into the business for growth but unfortunately it looks like sales haven't increased much just yet. And investors may be recognizing these trends since the stock has only returned a total of 3.7% to shareholders over the last five years. Therefore, if you're looking for a multi-bagger, we'd propose looking at other options.

If you want to know some of the risks facing Insimbi Industrial Holdings we've found 3 warning signs (2 can't be ignored!) that you should be aware of before investing here.

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.

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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