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. So when we looked at Sinofert Holdings (HKG:297) and its trend of ROCE, we really liked what we saw.

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 Sinofert Holdings:

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

0.088 = CN¥998m ÷ (CN¥21b - CN¥9.5b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2022).

Therefore, Sinofert Holdings has an ROCE of 8.8%. Ultimately, that's a low return and it under-performs the Chemicals industry average of 14%.

See our latest analysis for Sinofert Holdings

Above you can see how the current ROCE for Sinofert Holdings compares to its prior returns on capital, but there's only so much you can tell from the past. If you're interested, you can view the analysts predictions in our free report on analyst forecasts for the company.

What Can We Tell From Sinofert Holdings' ROCE Trend?

We're delighted to see that Sinofert Holdings is reaping rewards from its investments and has now broken into profitability. The company now earns 8.8% on its capital, because five years ago it was incurring losses. Interestingly, the capital employed by the business has remained relatively flat, so these higher returns are either from prior investments paying off or increased efficiencies. With no noticeable increase in capital employed, it's worth knowing what the company plans on doing going forward in regards to reinvesting and growing the business. Because in the end, a business can only get so efficient.

On a separate but related note, it's important to know that Sinofert Holdings has a current liabilities to total assets ratio of 46%, 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. Ideally we'd like to see this reduce as that would mean fewer obligations bearing risks.

The Bottom Line On Sinofert Holdings' ROCE

To sum it up, Sinofert Holdings is collecting higher returns from the same amount of capital, and that's impressive. Considering the stock has delivered 38% to its stockholders over the last five years, it may be fair to think that investors aren't fully aware of the promising trends yet. So with that in mind, we think the stock deserves further research.

Since virtually every company faces some risks, it's worth knowing what they are, and we've spotted 2 warning signs for Sinofert Holdings (of which 1 is significant!) that you should know about.

While Sinofert Holdings 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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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.