When we're researching a company, it's sometimes hard to find the warning signs, but there are some financial metrics that can help spot trouble early. When we see a declining return on capital employed (ROCE) in conjunction with a declining base of capital employed, that's often how a mature business shows signs of aging. This reveals that the company isn't compounding shareholder wealth because returns are falling and its net asset base is shrinking. Having said that, after a brief look, New Universe Environmental Group (HKG:436) we aren't filled with optimism, but let's investigate further.
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. The formula for this calculation on New Universe Environmental Group is:
Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) ÷ (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)
0.0031 = HK$3.3m ÷ (HK$1.3b - HK$250m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2023).
Thus, New Universe Environmental Group has an ROCE of 0.3%. Ultimately, that's a low return and it under-performs the Commercial Services industry average of 7.2%.
See our latest analysis for New Universe Environmental Group
Historical performance is a great place to start when researching a stock so above you can see the gauge for New Universe Environmental Group's ROCE against it's prior returns. If you want to delve into the historical earnings , check out these free graphs detailing revenue and cash flow performance of New Universe Environmental Group.
How Are Returns Trending?
There is reason to be cautious about New Universe Environmental Group, given the returns are trending downwards. To be more specific, the ROCE was 10.0% five years ago, but since then it has dropped noticeably. On top of that, it's worth noting that the amount of capital employed within the business has remained relatively steady. This combination can be indicative of a mature business that still has areas to deploy capital, but the returns received aren't as high due potentially to new competition or smaller margins. So because these trends aren't typically conducive to creating a multi-bagger, we wouldn't hold our breath on New Universe Environmental Group becoming one if things continue as they have.
In Conclusion...
In the end, the trend of lower returns on the same amount of capital isn't typically an indication that we're looking at a growth stock. This could explain why the stock has sunk a total of 75% in the last five years. With underlying trends that aren't great in these areas, we'd consider looking elsewhere.
One final note, you should learn about the 2 warning signs we've spotted with New Universe Environmental Group (including 1 which shouldn't be ignored) .
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.