Yahoo Finance Ascopiave S.p.A. (BIT:ASC) Earns Among The Best Returns In Its Industry
Today we are going to look at Ascopiave S.p.A. (BIT:ASC) to see whether it might be an attractive investment prospect. Specifically, we'll consider its Return On Capital Employed (ROCE), since that will give us an insight into how efficiently the business can generate profits from the capital it requires.
Firstly, we'll go over how we calculate ROCE. Next, we'll compare it to others in its industry. And finally, we'll look at how its current liabilities are impacting its ROCE.
Return On Capital Employed (ROCE): What is it?
ROCE measures the amount of pre-tax profits a company can generate from the capital employed in its business. In general, businesses with a higher ROCE are usually better quality. Ultimately, it is a useful but imperfect metric. Author Edwin Whiting says to be careful when comparing the ROCE of different businesses, since 'No two businesses are exactly alike.
How Do You Calculate Return On Capital Employed?
The formula for calculating the return on capital employed is:
Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) ÷ (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)
Or for Ascopiave:
0.13 = €65m ÷ (€831m - €346m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2019.)
Therefore, Ascopiave has an ROCE of 13%.
Check out our latest analysis for Ascopiave
Does Ascopiave Have A Good ROCE?
ROCE can be useful when making comparisons, such as between similar companies. Using our data, we find that Ascopiave's ROCE is meaningfully better than the 7.9% average in the Gas Utilities industry. I think that's good to see, since it implies the company is better than other companies at making the most of its capital. Separate from Ascopiave's performance relative to its industry, its ROCE in absolute terms looks satisfactory, and it may be worth researching in more depth.
You can click on the image below to see (in greater detail) how Ascopiave's past growth compares to other companies.
It is important to remember that ROCE shows past performance, and is not necessarily predictive. ROCE can be deceptive for cyclical businesses, as returns can look incredible in boom times, and terribly low in downturns. This is because ROCE only looks at one year, instead of considering returns across a whole cycle. Since the future is so important for investors, you should check out our free report on analyst forecasts for Ascopiave.
Ascopiave's Current Liabilities And Their Impact On Its ROCE
Liabilities, such as supplier bills and bank overdrafts, are referred to as current liabilities if they need to be paid within 12 months. Due to the way ROCE is calculated, a high level of current liabilities makes a company look as though it has less capital employed, and thus can (sometimes unfairly) boost the ROCE. To counteract this, we check if a company has high current liabilities, relative to its total assets.
Ascopiave has total assets of €831m and current liabilities of €346m. As a result, its current liabilities are equal to approximately 42% of its total assets. Ascopiave has a middling amount of current liabilities, increasing its ROCE somewhat.
What We Can Learn From Ascopiave's ROCE
While its ROCE looks good, it's worth remembering that the current liabilities are making the business look better. Ascopiave shapes up well under this analysis, but it is far from the only business delivering excellent numbers . You might also want to check this free collection of companies delivering excellent earnings growth.
For those who like to find winning investments this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.
We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.
If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.
