What are the early trends we should look for to identify a stock that could multiply in value over the long term? Typically, we'll want to notice a trend of growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and alongside that, an expanding base of capital employed. Ultimately, this demonstrates that it's a business that is reinvesting profits at increasing rates of return. Speaking of which, we noticed some great changes in Futian Holdings' (HKG:8196) returns on capital, so let's have a look.

What Is 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. To calculate this metric for Futian Holdings, this is the formula:

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

0.0036 = CN¥292k ÷ (CN¥248m - CN¥168m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2024).

Therefore, Futian Holdings has an ROCE of 0.4%. Ultimately, that's a low return and it under-performs the Trade Distributors industry average of 5.8%.

See our latest analysis for Futian 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'd like to look at how Futian Holdings has performed in the past in other metrics, you can view this free graph of Futian Holdings' past earnings, revenue and cash flow.

What Can We Tell From Futian Holdings' ROCE Trend?

Like most people, we're pleased that Futian Holdings is now generating some pretax earnings. The company was generating losses five years ago, but now it's turned around, earning 0.4% which is no doubt a relief for some early shareholders. At first glance, it seems the business is getting more proficient at generating returns, because over the same period, the amount of capital employed has reduced by 65%. The reduction could indicate that the company is selling some assets, and considering returns are up, they appear to be selling the right ones.

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. Essentially the business now has suppliers or short-term creditors funding about 67% of its operations, which isn't ideal. Given it's pretty high ratio, we'd remind investors that having current liabilities at those levels can bring about some risks in certain businesses.

What We Can Learn From Futian Holdings' ROCE

In the end, Futian Holdings has proven it's capital allocation skills are good with those higher returns from less amount of capital. And since the stock has dived 86% over the last five years, there may be other factors affecting the company's prospects. Regardless, we think the underlying fundamentals warrant this stock for further investigation.

Futian Holdings does have some risks, we noticed 3 warning signs (and 2 which are a bit concerning) we think you should know about.

While Futian 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.