Yahoo Finance Glencore's (LON:GLEN) Returns On Capital Are Heading Higher
Finding a business that has the potential to grow substantially is not easy, but it is possible if we look at a few key financial metrics. In a perfect world, we'd like to see a company investing more capital into its business and ideally the returns earned from that capital are also increasing. Basically this means that a company has profitable initiatives that it can continue to reinvest in, which is a trait of a compounding machine. With that in mind, we've noticed some promising trends at Glencore (LON:GLEN) so let's look a bit deeper.
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. To calculate this metric for Glencore, this is the formula:
Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) ÷ (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)
0.05 = US$3.9b ÷ (US$122b - US$45b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2021).
Therefore, Glencore has an ROCE of 5.0%. Ultimately, that's a low return and it under-performs the Metals and Mining industry average of 18%.
Check out our latest analysis for Glencore
In the above chart we have measured Glencore's 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 Glencore here for free.
So How Is Glencore's ROCE Trending?
Glencore is showing promise given that its ROCE is trending up and to the right. Looking at the data, we can see that even though capital employed in the business has remained relatively flat, the ROCE generated has risen by 703% over the last five years. So our take on this is that the business has increased efficiencies to generate these higher returns, all the while not needing to make any additional investments. The company is doing well in that sense, and it's worth investigating what the management team has planned for long term growth prospects.
What We Can Learn From Glencore's ROCE
As discussed above, Glencore appears to be getting more proficient at generating returns since capital employed has remained flat but earnings (before interest and tax) are up. And with a respectable 83% awarded to those who held the stock over the last five years, you could argue that these developments are starting to get the attention they deserve. So given the stock has proven it has promising trends, it's worth researching the company further to see if these trends are likely to persist.
If you'd like to know more about Glencore, we've spotted 4 warning signs, and 1 of them is concerning.
While Glencore isn't earning the highest return, check out this free list of companies that are earning high returns on equity with solid balance sheets.
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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