If we want to find a potential multi-bagger, often there are underlying trends that can provide clues. Amongst other things, we'll want to see two things; firstly, a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and secondly, an expansion in the company's 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. With that in mind, the ROCE of Eagle Nice (International) Holdings (HKG:2368) looks decent, right now, so lets see what the trend of returns can tell us.

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

Just to clarify if you're unsure, ROCE is a metric for evaluating how much pre-tax income (in percentage terms) a company earns on the capital invested in its business. The formula for this calculation on Eagle Nice (International) Holdings is:

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

0.16 = HK$372m ÷ (HK$4.3b - HK$2.0b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2024).

Therefore, Eagle Nice (International) Holdings has an ROCE of 16%. On its own, that's a standard return, however it's much better than the 13% generated by the Luxury industry.

View our latest analysis for Eagle Nice (International) Holdings

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 want to delve into the historical earnings , check out these free graphs detailing revenue and cash flow performance of Eagle Nice (International) Holdings .

The Trend Of ROCE

While the current returns on capital are decent, they haven't changed much. The company has consistently earned 16% for the last five years, and the capital employed within the business has risen 60% in that time. 16% is a pretty standard return, and it provides some comfort knowing that Eagle Nice (International) Holdings has consistently earned this amount. Stable returns in this ballpark can be unexciting, but if they can be maintained over the long run, they often provide nice rewards to shareholders.

Another thing to note, Eagle Nice (International) Holdings has a high ratio of current liabilities to total assets of 47%. 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. While it's not necessarily a bad thing, it can be beneficial if this ratio is lower.

The Bottom Line On Eagle Nice (International) Holdings' ROCE

To sum it up, Eagle Nice (International) Holdings has simply been reinvesting capital steadily, at those decent rates of return. On top of that, the stock has rewarded shareholders with a remarkable 137% return to those who've held over the last five years. So while investors seem to be recognizing these promising trends, we still believe the stock deserves further research.

One final note, you should learn about the 4 warning signs we've spotted with Eagle Nice (International) Holdings (including 2 which shouldn't be ignored) .

If you want to search for solid companies with great earnings, check out this free list of companies with good balance sheets and impressive returns on equity.

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.