Is Kaap Agri (JSE:KAL) Likely To Turn Things Around?

Did you know there are some financial metrics that can provide clues of a potential 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. If you see this, it typically means it's a company with a great business model and plenty of profitable reinvestment opportunities. However, after investigating Kaap Agri (JSE:KAL), we don't think it's current trends fit the mold of a multi-bagger.

What is Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)?

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 Kaap Agri:

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

0.12 = R377m ÷ (R5.3b - R2.2b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2020).

So, Kaap Agri has an ROCE of 12%. In absolute terms, that's a pretty normal return, and it's somewhat close to the Consumer Retailing industry average of 15%.

Check out our latest analysis for Kaap Agri

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 want to delve into the historical earnings, revenue and cash flow of Kaap Agri, check out these free graphs here.

What Does the ROCE Trend For Kaap Agri Tell Us?

On the surface, the trend of ROCE at Kaap Agri doesn't inspire confidence. Around five years ago the returns on capital were 16%, but since then they've fallen to 12%. 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 may take some time before the company starts to see any change in earnings from these investments.

On a side note, Kaap Agri's current liabilities are still rather high at 42% of total assets. 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

Bringing it all together, while we're somewhat encouraged by Kaap Agri's reinvestment in its own business, we're aware that returns are shrinking. And investors appear hesitant that the trends will pick up because the stock has fallen 15% in the last three years. On the whole, we aren't too inspired by the underlying trends and we think there may be better chances of finding a multi-bagger elsewhere.

Like most companies, Kaap Agri does come with some risks, and we've found 2 warning signs that you should be aware of.

While Kaap Agri isn't earning the highest return, check out this free list of companies that are earning high returns on equity with solid balance sheets.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. 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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