Yahoo Finance Brambles (ASX:BXB) Is Experiencing Growth In Returns On Capital
If we want to find a potential multi-bagger, often there are underlying trends that can provide clues. Firstly, we'd want to identify a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and then alongside that, an ever-increasing base of capital employed. Ultimately, this demonstrates that it's a business that is reinvesting profits at increasing rates of return. With that in mind, we've noticed some promising trends at Brambles (ASX:BXB) so let's look a bit deeper.
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. Analysts use this formula to calculate it for Brambles:
Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) ÷ (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)
0.20 = US$1.1b ÷ (US$7.5b - US$2.0b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2021).
Therefore, Brambles has an ROCE of 20%. On its own, that's a standard return, however it's much better than the 11% generated by the Commercial Services industry.
View our latest analysis for Brambles
In the above chart we have measured Brambles' prior ROCE against its prior performance, but the future is arguably more important. If you'd like, you can check out the forecasts from the analysts covering Brambles here for free.
What Can We Tell From Brambles' ROCE Trend?
Brambles' ROCE growth is quite impressive. Looking at the data, we can see that even though capital employed in the business has remained relatively flat, the ROCE generated has risen by 20% over the last five years. So it's likely that the business is now reaping the full benefits of its past investments, since the capital employed hasn't changed considerably. It's worth looking deeper into this though because while it's great that the business is more efficient, it might also mean that going forward the areas to invest internally for the organic growth are lacking.
The Key Takeaway
To sum it up, Brambles is collecting higher returns from the same amount of capital, and that's impressive. Investors may not be impressed by the favorable underlying trends yet because over the last five years the stock has only returned 3.5% to shareholders. Given that, we'd look further into this stock in case it has more traits that could make it multiply in the long term.
If you'd like to know about the risks facing Brambles, we've discovered 2 warning signs that you should be aware of.
While Brambles isn't earning the highest return, check out this free list of companies that are earning high returns on equity with solid balance sheets.
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.
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