If you're looking for a multi-bagger, there's a few things to keep an eye out for. Typically, we'll want to notice a trend of growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and alongside that, an expanding base of capital employed. If you see this, it typically means it's a company with a great business model and plenty of profitable reinvestment opportunities. Although, when we looked at Uni-President China Holdings (HKG:220), it didn't seem to tick all of these boxes.

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 Uni-President China Holdings, this is the formula:

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

0.13 = CN¥1.7b ÷ (CN¥22b - CN¥8.3b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2024).

Thus, Uni-President China Holdings has an ROCE of 13%. On its own, that's a standard return, however it's much better than the 7.5% generated by the Food industry.

View our latest analysis for Uni-President China Holdings

Above you can see how the current ROCE for Uni-President China Holdings 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 analyst report for Uni-President China Holdings .

The Trend Of ROCE

Things have been pretty stable at Uni-President China Holdings, with its capital employed and returns on that capital staying somewhat the same for the last five years. Businesses with these traits tend to be mature and steady operations because they're past the growth phase. With that in mind, unless investment picks up again in the future, we wouldn't expect Uni-President China Holdings to be a multi-bagger going forward. On top of that you'll notice that Uni-President China Holdings has been paying out a large portion (99%) of earnings in the form of dividends to shareholders. These mature businesses typically have reliable earnings and not many places to reinvest them, so the next best option is to put the earnings into shareholders pockets.

The Bottom Line

In summary, Uni-President China Holdings isn't compounding its earnings but is generating stable returns on the same amount of capital employed. And with the stock having returned a mere 25% in the last five years to shareholders, you could argue that they're aware of these lackluster trends. Therefore, if you're looking for a multi-bagger, we'd propose looking at other options.

Uni-President China Holdings does have some risks though, and we've spotted 2 warning signs for Uni-President China Holdings that you might be interested in.

While Uni-President China Holdings 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.

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.