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Why You Should Like G5 Entertainment AB (publ)’s (STO:G5EN) ROCE

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Today we are going to look at G5 Entertainment AB (publ) (STO:G5EN) to see whether it might be an attractive investment prospect. Specifically, we’re going to calculate its Return On Capital Employed (ROCE), in the hopes of getting some insight into the business.

First up, we’ll look at what ROCE is and how we calculate it. Next, we’ll compare it to others in its industry. Then we’ll determine how its current liabilities are affecting its ROCE.

Understanding Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)

ROCE is a measure of a company’s yearly pre-tax profit (its return), relative to the capital employed in the business. Generally speaking a higher ROCE is better. Ultimately, it is a useful but imperfect metric. Renowned investment researcher Michael Mauboussin has suggested that a high ROCE can indicate that ‘one dollar invested in the company generates value of more than one dollar’.

How Do You Calculate Return On Capital Employed?

Analysts use this formula to calculate return on capital employed:

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

Or for G5 Entertainment:

0.44 = kr96m ÷ (kr500m – kr173m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2018.)

So, G5 Entertainment has an ROCE of 44%.

View our latest analysis for G5 Entertainment

Is G5 Entertainment’s ROCE Good?

ROCE can be useful when making comparisons, such as between similar companies. Using our data, we find that G5 Entertainment’s ROCE is meaningfully better than the 14% average in the Entertainment industry. We would consider this a positive, as it suggests it is using capital more effectively than other similar companies. Putting aside its position relative to its industry for now, in absolute terms, G5 Entertainment’s ROCE is currently very good.

Our data shows that G5 Entertainment currently has an ROCE of 44%, compared to its ROCE of 16% 3 years ago. This makes us think about whether the company has been reinvesting shrewdly.

OM:G5EN Last Perf February 5th 19
OM:G5EN Last Perf February 5th 19

Remember that this metric is backwards looking – it shows what has happened in the past, and does not accurately predict the future. Companies in cyclical industries can be difficult to understand using ROCE, as returns typically look high during boom times, and low during busts. ROCE is, after all, simply a snap shot of a single year. Future performance is what matters, and you can see analyst predictions in our free report on analyst forecasts for the company.

How G5 Entertainment’s Current Liabilities Impact Its ROCE

Current liabilities include invoices, such as supplier payments, short-term debt, or a tax bill, that need to be paid within 12 months. The ROCE equation subtracts current liabilities from capital employed, so a company with a lot of current liabilities appears to have less capital employed, and a higher ROCE than otherwise. To counter this, investors can check if a company has high current liabilities relative to total assets.

G5 Entertainment has total liabilities of kr173m and total assets of kr500m. Therefore its current liabilities are equivalent to approximately 35% of its total assets. G5 Entertainment’s ROCE is boosted somewhat by its middling amount of current liabilities.

What We Can Learn From G5 Entertainment’s ROCE

Even so, it has a great ROCE, and could be an attractive prospect for further research. You might be able to find a better buy than G5 Entertainment. If you want a selection of possible winners, check out this free list of interesting companies that trade on a P/E below 20 (but have proven they can grow earnings).

If you like to buy stocks alongside management, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).

To help readers see past the short term volatility of the financial market, we aim to bring you a long-term focused research analysis purely driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis does not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements.

The author is an independent contributor and at the time of publication had no position in the stocks mentioned. For errors that warrant correction please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com.