If we want to find a potential multi-bagger, often there are underlying trends that can provide clues. Firstly, we'll want to see a proven return on capital employed (ROCE) that is increasing, and secondly, an expanding 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, we've noticed some promising trends at Keppel (SGX:BN4) so let's look a bit deeper.

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

For those who don't know, ROCE is a measure of a company's yearly pre-tax profit (its return), relative to the capital employed in the business. To calculate this metric for Keppel, this is the formula:

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

0.035 = S$801m ÷ (S$28b - S$4.8b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2024).

Thus, Keppel has an ROCE of 3.5%. In absolute terms, that's a low return and it also under-performs the Industrials industry average of 6.4%.

Check out our latest analysis for Keppel

SGX:BN4 Return on Capital Employed February 7th 2025

In the above chart we have measured Keppel's prior ROCE against its prior performance, but the future is arguably more important. If you're interested, you can view the analysts predictions in our free analyst report for Keppel .

What Can We Tell From Keppel's ROCE Trend?

While the ROCE isn't as high as some other companies out there, it's great to see it's on the up. The figures show that over the last five years, ROCE has grown 22% whilst employing roughly the same amount of capital. 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. The company is doing well in that sense, and it's worth investigating what the management team has planned for long term growth prospects.

On a related note, the company's ratio of current liabilities to total assets has decreased to 17%, which basically reduces it's funding from the likes of short-term creditors or suppliers. So this improvement in ROCE has come from the business' underlying economics, which is great to see.

In Conclusion...

To bring it all together, Keppel has done well to increase the returns it's generating from its capital employed. And investors seem to expect more of this going forward, since the stock has rewarded shareholders with a 97% return over the last five years. With that being said, we still think the promising fundamentals mean the company deserves some further due diligence.

Keppel does come with some risks though, we found 3 warning signs in our investment analysis, and 1 of those can't be ignored...

While Keppel may not currently earn the highest returns, we've compiled a list of companies that currently earn more than 25% return on equity. Check out this free list here.