If you're looking at a mature business that's past the growth phase, what are some of the underlying trends that pop up? A business that's potentially in decline often shows two trends, a return on capital employed (ROCE) that's declining, and a base of capital employed that's also declining. Ultimately this means that the company is earning less per dollar invested and on top of that, it's shrinking its base of capital employed. And from a first read, things don't look too good at PNE Industries (SGX:BDA), so let's see why.

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What Is Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)?

For those that aren't sure what ROCE is, it measures the amount of pre-tax profits a company can generate from the capital employed in its business. To calculate this metric for PNE Industries, this is the formula:

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

0.0044 = S$310k ÷ (S$83m - S$14m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2024).

So, PNE Industries has an ROCE of 0.4%. Ultimately, that's a low return and it under-performs the Electronic industry average of 8.7%.

See our latest analysis for PNE Industries

Historical performance is a great place to start when researching a stock so above you can see the gauge for PNE Industries' ROCE against it's prior returns. If you'd like to look at how PNE Industries has performed in the past in other metrics, you can view this free graph of PNE Industries' past earnings, revenue and cash flow .

So How Is PNE Industries' ROCE Trending?

In terms of PNE Industries' historical ROCE movements, the trend doesn't inspire confidence. Unfortunately the returns on capital have diminished from the 10% that they were earning five years ago. 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 PNE Industries becoming one if things continue as they have.

The Key Takeaway

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. Investors haven't taken kindly to these developments, since the stock has declined 23% from where it was five years ago. Unless there is a shift to a more positive trajectory in these metrics, we would look elsewhere.

On a final note, we found 4 warning signs for PNE Industries (3 are a bit concerning) you should be aware of.

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Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.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.