Did you know there are some financial metrics that can provide clues of a potential multi-bagger? Ideally, a business will show two trends; firstly a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and secondly, an increasing amount 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. So when we looked at the ROCE trend of Want Want China Holdings (HKG:151) we really liked what we saw.

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. Analysts use this formula to calculate it for Want Want China Holdings:

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

0.34 = CN¥5.3b ÷ (CN¥27b - CN¥11b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2024).

So, Want Want China Holdings has an ROCE of 34%. In absolute terms that's a great return and it's even better than the Food industry average of 7.7%.

Check out our latest analysis for Want Want China Holdings

Above you can see how the current ROCE for Want Want China Holdings compares to its prior returns on capital, but there's only so much you can tell from the past. If you'd like to see what analysts are forecasting going forward, you should check out our free analyst report for Want Want China Holdings .

What The Trend Of ROCE Can Tell Us

Want Want China Holdings has not disappointed in regards to ROCE growth. The data shows that returns on capital have increased by 63% over the trailing five years. That's a very favorable trend because this means that the company is earning more per dollar of capital that's being employed. Speaking of capital employed, the company is actually utilizing 32% less than it was five years ago, which can be indicative of a business that's improving its efficiency. A business that's shrinking its asset base like this isn't usually typical of a soon to be multi-bagger company.

For the record though, there was a noticeable increase in the company's current liabilities over the period, so we would attribute some of the ROCE growth to that. The current liabilities has increased to 42% of total assets, so the business is now more funded by the likes of its suppliers or short-term creditors. And with current liabilities at those levels, that's pretty high.

The Bottom Line

From what we've seen above, Want Want China Holdings has managed to increase it's returns on capital all the while reducing it's capital base. And given the stock has remained rather flat over the last five years, there might be an opportunity here if other metrics are strong. That being the case, research into the company's current valuation metrics and future prospects seems fitting.

On a final note, we've found 1 warning sign for Want Want China Holdings that we think you should be aware of.

If you'd like to see other companies earning high returns, check out our free list of companies earning high returns with solid balance sheets here.

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