Yahoo Finance Returns On Capital Signal Difficult Times Ahead For Southern Cross Media Group (ASX:SXL)
To avoid investing in a business that's in decline, there's a few financial metrics that can provide early indications of aging. Typically, we'll see the trend of both return on capital employed (ROCE) declining and this usually coincides with a decreasing amount of capital employed. This indicates to us that the business is not only shrinking the size of its net assets, but its returns are falling as well. So after glancing at the trends within Southern Cross Media Group (ASX:SXL), we weren't too hopeful.
Understanding 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. To calculate this metric for Southern Cross Media Group, this is the formula:
Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) ÷ (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)
0.02 = AU$25m ÷ (AU$1.3b - AU$78m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2021).
So, Southern Cross Media Group has an ROCE of 2.0%. In absolute terms, that's a low return and it also under-performs the Media industry average of 8.0%.
See our latest analysis for Southern Cross Media Group
Above you can see how the current ROCE for Southern Cross Media Group 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 Southern Cross Media Group's ROCE Trend?
We are a bit worried about the trend of returns on capital at Southern Cross Media Group. About five years ago, returns on capital were 9.0%, however they're now substantially lower than that as we saw above. And on the capital employed front, the business is utilizing roughly the same amount of capital as it was back then. Since returns are falling and the business has the same amount of assets employed, this can suggest it's a mature business that hasn't had much growth in the last five years. So because these trends aren't typically conducive to creating a multi-bagger, we wouldn't hold our breath on Southern Cross Media Group becoming one if things continue as they have.
What We Can Learn From Southern Cross Media Group's ROCE
In the end, the trend of lower returns on the same amount of capital isn't typically an indication that we're looking at a growth stock. We expect this has contributed to the stock plummeting 76% during the last five years. Unless there is a shift to a more positive trajectory in these metrics, we would look elsewhere.
If you want to continue researching Southern Cross Media Group, you might be interested to know about the 2 warning signs that our analysis has discovered.
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.
