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Crest Nicholson Holdings (LON:CRST) Is Finding It Tricky To Allocate Its Capital

When it comes to investing, there are some useful financial metrics that can warn us when a business is potentially in trouble. When we see a declining return on capital employed (ROCE) in conjunction with a declining base of capital employed, that's often how a mature business shows signs of aging. Ultimately this means that the company is earning less per dollar invested and on top of that, it's shrinking its base of capital employed. So after we looked into Crest Nicholson Holdings (LON:CRST), the trends above didn't look too great.

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 Crest Nicholson Holdings is:

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

0.12 = UK£132m ÷ (UK£1.6b - UK£551m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to April 2022).

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Therefore, Crest Nicholson Holdings has an ROCE of 12%. That's a relatively normal return on capital, and it's around the 14% generated by the Consumer Durables industry.

Check out our latest analysis for Crest Nicholson Holdings

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In the above chart we have measured Crest Nicholson Holdings' prior ROCE against its prior performance, but the future is arguably more important. If you'd like, you can check out the forecasts from the analysts covering Crest Nicholson Holdings here for free.

What The Trend Of ROCE Can Tell Us

There is reason to be cautious about Crest Nicholson Holdings, given the returns are trending downwards. To be more specific, the ROCE was 20% five years ago, but since then it has dropped noticeably. And on the capital employed front, the business is utilizing roughly the same amount of capital as it was back then. Companies that exhibit these attributes tend to not be shrinking, but they can be mature and facing pressure on their margins from competition. If these trends continue, we wouldn't expect Crest Nicholson Holdings to turn into a multi-bagger.

The Key Takeaway

All in all, the lower returns from the same amount of capital employed aren't exactly signs of a compounding machine. Long term shareholders who've owned the stock over the last five years have experienced a 56% depreciation in their investment, so it appears the market might not like these trends either. That being the case, unless the underlying trends revert to a more positive trajectory, we'd consider looking elsewhere.

Like most companies, Crest Nicholson Holdings does come with some risks, and we've found 1 warning sign that you should be aware of.

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

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.

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