If we want to find a potential multi-bagger, often there are underlying trends that can provide clues. Firstly, we'd want to identify a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and then alongside that, an ever-increasing base of capital employed. Ultimately, this demonstrates that it's a business that is reinvesting profits at increasing rates of return. With that in mind, the ROCE of Supreme Petrochem (NSE:SPLPETRO) looks great, so lets see what the trend can tell us.
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 Supreme Petrochem, this is the formula:
Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) ÷ (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)
0.22 = ₹4.9b ÷ (₹30b - ₹7.4b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2024).
Thus, Supreme Petrochem has an ROCE of 22%. In absolute terms that's a great return and it's even better than the Chemicals industry average of 13%.
Check out our latest analysis for Supreme Petrochem
Above you can see how the current ROCE for Supreme Petrochem 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 Supreme Petrochem .
Investors would be pleased with what's happening at Supreme Petrochem. The numbers show that in the last five years, the returns generated on capital employed have grown considerably to 22%. The company is effectively making more money per dollar of capital used, and it's worth noting that the amount of capital has increased too, by 191%. This can indicate that there's plenty of opportunities to invest capital internally and at ever higher rates, a combination that's common among multi-baggers.
In another part of our analysis, we noticed that the company's ratio of current liabilities to total assets decreased to 25%, which broadly means the business is relying less on its suppliers or short-term creditors to fund its operations. This tells us that Supreme Petrochem has grown its returns without a reliance on increasing their current liabilities, which we're very happy with.
A company that is growing its returns on capital and can consistently reinvest in itself is a highly sought after trait, and that's what Supreme Petrochem has. Since the stock has returned a staggering 872% to shareholders over the last five years, it looks like investors are recognizing these changes. With that being said, we still think the promising fundamentals mean the company deserves some further due diligence.
Supreme Petrochem does come with some risks though, we found 2 warning signs in our investment analysis, and 1 of those doesn't sit too well with us...
Supreme Petrochem is not the only stock earning high returns. If you'd like to see more, check out our free list of companies earning high returns on equity with solid fundamentals.
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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.