What trends should we look for it we want to identify stocks that can multiply in value over the long term? 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. So while Giant Biogene Holding (HKG:2367) has a high ROCE right now, lets see what we can decipher from how returns are changing.

Return On Capital Employed (ROCE): What Is It?

Just to clarify if you're unsure, ROCE is a metric for evaluating how much pre-tax income (in percentage terms) a company earns on the capital invested in its business. To calculate this metric for Giant Biogene Holding, this is the formula:

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

0.36 = CN¥1.6b ÷ (CN¥5.0b - CN¥531m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2023).

Thus, Giant Biogene Holding has an ROCE of 36%. In absolute terms that's a great return and it's even better than the Personal Products industry average of 11%.

Above you can see how the current ROCE for Giant Biogene Holding 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 analyst report for Giant Biogene Holding .

The Trend Of ROCE

In terms of Giant Biogene Holding's historical ROCE movements, the trend isn't fantastic. While it's comforting that the ROCE is high, four years ago it was 57%. Although, given both revenue and the amount of assets employed in the business have increased, it could suggest the company is investing in growth, and the extra capital has led to a short-term reduction in ROCE. If these investments prove successful, this can bode very well for long term stock performance.

On a side note, Giant Biogene Holding has done well to pay down its current liabilities to 11% of total assets. That could partly explain why the ROCE has dropped. What's more, this can reduce some aspects of risk to the business because now the company's suppliers or short-term creditors are funding less of its operations. Some would claim this reduces the business' efficiency at generating ROCE since it is now funding more of the operations with its own money.

What We Can Learn From Giant Biogene Holding's ROCE

While returns have fallen for Giant Biogene Holding in recent times, we're encouraged to see that sales are growing and that the business is reinvesting in its operations. However, total returns to shareholders over the last year have been flat, which could indicate these growth trends potentially aren't accounted for yet by investors. As a result, we'd recommend researching this stock further to uncover what other fundamentals of the business can show us.

If you're still interested in Giant Biogene Holding it's worth checking out our FREE intrinsic value approximation for 2367 to see if it's trading at an attractive price in other respects.

Giant Biogene Holding is not the only stock earning high returns. If you'd like to see more, check out our free list of companies earning high returns on equity with solid fundamentals.

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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.