To find a multi-bagger stock, what are the underlying trends we should look for in a business? Ideally, a business will show two trends; firstly a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and secondly, an increasing amount of capital employed. Basically this means that a company has profitable initiatives that it can continue to reinvest in, which is a trait of a compounding machine. So when we looked at Leoch International Technology (HKG:842) and its trend of ROCE, we really liked what we saw.

What Is Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)?

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 Leoch International Technology, this is the formula:

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

0.12 = CN¥806m ÷ (CN¥14b - CN¥7.6b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2024).

Thus, Leoch International Technology has an ROCE of 12%. On its own, that's a standard return, however it's much better than the 6.3% generated by the Electrical industry.

Check out our latest analysis for Leoch International Technology

While the past is not representative of the future, it can be helpful to know how a company has performed historically, which is why we have this chart above. If you'd like to look at how Leoch International Technology has performed in the past in other metrics, you can view this free graph of Leoch International Technology's past earnings, revenue and cash flow.

How Are Returns Trending?

Leoch International Technology is displaying some positive trends. The numbers show that in the last five years, the returns generated on capital employed have grown considerably to 12%. Basically the business is earning more per dollar of capital invested and in addition to that, 90% more capital is being employed now too. The increasing returns on a growing amount of capital is common amongst multi-baggers and that's why we're impressed.

On a separate but related note, it's important to know that Leoch International Technology has a current liabilities to total assets ratio of 54%, which we'd consider pretty high. This effectively means that suppliers (or short-term creditors) are funding a large portion of the business, so just be aware that this can introduce some elements of risk. Ideally we'd like to see this reduce as that would mean fewer obligations bearing risks.

In Conclusion...

All in all, it's terrific to see that Leoch International Technology is reaping the rewards from prior investments and is growing its capital base. Since the stock has returned a staggering 625% to shareholders over the last five years, it looks like investors are recognizing these changes. Therefore, we think it would be worth your time to check if these trends are going to continue.

One more thing: We've identified 2 warning signs with Leoch International Technology (at least 1 which is concerning) , and understanding these would certainly be useful.

For those who like to invest in solid companies, check out this free list of companies with solid balance sheets and high returns on equity.

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