S.C. IOR (BVB:IORB) Is Looking To Continue Growing Its Returns On Capital

Simply Wall St · 03/13 05:33

If we want to find a stock that could multiply over the long term, what are the underlying trends we should look for? Firstly, we'd want to identify a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and then alongside that, an ever-increasing base 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. Speaking of which, we noticed some great changes in S.C. IOR's (BVB:IORB) 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 S.C. IOR, this is the formula:

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

0.022 = RON4.5m ÷ (RON247m - RON40m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2024).

Thus, S.C. IOR has an ROCE of 2.2%. Ultimately, that's a low return and it under-performs the Medical Equipment industry average of 9.6%.

View our latest analysis for S.C. IOR

roce
BVB:IORB Return on Capital Employed March 13th 2025

Historical performance is a great place to start when researching a stock so above you can see the gauge for S.C. IOR's ROCE against it's prior returns. If you're interested in investigating S.C. IOR's past further, check out this free graph covering S.C. IOR's past earnings, revenue and cash flow.

How Are Returns Trending?

Even though ROCE is still low in absolute terms, it's good to see it's heading in the right direction. The numbers show that in the last five years, the returns generated on capital employed have grown considerably to 2.2%. The amount of capital employed has increased too, by 83%. So we're very much inspired by what we're seeing at S.C. IOR thanks to its ability to profitably reinvest capital.

One more thing to note, S.C. IOR has decreased current liabilities to 16% of total assets over this period, which effectively reduces the amount of funding from suppliers or short-term creditors. This tells us that S.C. IOR has grown its returns without a reliance on increasing their current liabilities, which we're very happy with.

The Bottom Line On S.C. IOR's ROCE

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 S.C. IOR has. Astute investors may have an opportunity here because the stock has declined 12% in the last year. That being the case, research into the company's current valuation metrics and future prospects seems fitting.

If you'd like to know more about S.C. IOR, we've spotted 4 warning signs, and 2 of them make us uncomfortable.

While S.C. IOR isn't earning the highest return, check out this free list of companies that are earning high returns on equity with solid balance sheets.