If we want to find a stock that could multiply over the long term, what are the underlying trends we should look for? 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. With that in mind, the ROCE of First Resources (SGX:EB5) looks great, so lets see what the trend can tell us.

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

If you haven't worked with ROCE before, it measures the 'return' (pre-tax profit) a company generates from capital employed in its business. To calculate this metric for First Resources, this is the formula:

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

0.21 = US$337m ÷ (US$1.8b - US$189m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2023).

Thus, First Resources has an ROCE of 21%. In absolute terms that's a great return and it's even better than the Food industry average of 12%.

See our latest analysis for First Resources

Above you can see how the current ROCE for First Resources 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.

So How Is First Resources' ROCE Trending?

First Resources is showing promise given that its ROCE is trending up and to the right. The figures show that over the last five years, ROCE has grown 42% whilst employing roughly the same amount of capital. So our take on this is that the business has increased efficiencies to generate these higher returns, all the while not needing to make any additional investments. On that front, things are looking good so it's worth exploring what management has said about growth plans going forward.

Our Take On First Resources' ROCE

In summary, we're delighted to see that First Resources has been able to increase efficiencies and earn higher rates of return on the same amount of capital. Since the stock has only returned 7.4% to shareholders over the last five years, the promising fundamentals may not be recognized yet by investors. So exploring more about this stock could uncover a good opportunity, if the valuation and other metrics stack up.

First Resources does come with some risks though, we found 2 warning signs in our investment analysis, and 1 of those is significant...

If you want to search for more stocks that have been earning high returns, check out this free list of stocks with solid balance sheets that are also earning high 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.