To find a multi-bagger stock, what are the underlying trends we should look for in a business? Ideally, a business will show two trends; firstly a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and secondly, an increasing amount of capital employed. Ultimately, this demonstrates that it's a business that is reinvesting profits at increasing rates of return. Having said that, from a first glance at Jiangsu Guotai International Group (SZSE:002091) we aren't jumping out of our chairs at how returns are trending, but let's have a deeper look.

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 Jiangsu Guotai International Group, this is the formula:

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

0.12 = CN¥3.4b ÷ (CN¥44b - CN¥16b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2023).

Thus, Jiangsu Guotai International Group has an ROCE of 12%. On its own, that's a standard return, however it's much better than the 6.9% generated by the Trade Distributors industry.

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're interested in investigating Jiangsu Guotai International Group's past further, check out this free graph covering Jiangsu Guotai International Group's past earnings, revenue and cash flow.

The Trend Of ROCE

When we looked at the ROCE trend at Jiangsu Guotai International Group, we didn't gain much confidence. To be more specific, ROCE has fallen from 17% over the last five years. Given the business is employing more capital while revenue has slipped, this is a bit concerning. If this were to continue, you might be looking at a company that is trying to reinvest for growth but is actually losing market share since sales haven't increased.

On a related note, Jiangsu Guotai International Group has decreased its current liabilities to 36% 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.

The Bottom Line On Jiangsu Guotai International Group's ROCE

From the above analysis, we find it rather worrisome that returns on capital and sales for Jiangsu Guotai International Group have fallen, meanwhile the business is employing more capital than it was five years ago. In spite of that, the stock has delivered a 36% return to shareholders who held over the last five years. Regardless, we don't like the trends as they are and if they persist, we think you might find better investments elsewhere.

On a final note, we've found 1 warning sign for Jiangsu Guotai International Group that we think you should be aware of.

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.