ITV (LON:ITV) Will Want To Turn Around Its Return Trends

If you're not sure where to start when looking for the next multi-bagger, there are a few key trends you should keep an eye out 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. If you see this, it typically means it's a company with a great business model and plenty of profitable reinvestment opportunities. Having said that, from a first glance at ITV (LON:ITV) we aren't jumping out of our chairs at how returns are trending, but let's have a deeper look.

Understanding Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)

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. Analysts use this formula to calculate it for ITV:

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

0.18 = UK£451m ÷ (UK£4.0b - UK£1.4b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2020).

Thus, ITV has an ROCE of 18%. On its own, that's a standard return, however it's much better than the 9.9% generated by the Media industry.

View our latest analysis for ITV

roce

Above you can see how the current ROCE for ITV compares to its prior returns on capital, but there's only so much you can tell from the past. If you'd like, you can check out the forecasts from the analysts covering ITV here for free.

How Are Returns Trending?

On the surface, the trend of ROCE at ITV doesn't inspire confidence. Around five years ago the returns on capital were 36%, but since then they've fallen to 18%. And considering revenue has dropped while employing more capital, we'd be cautious. If this were to continue, you might be looking at a company that is trying to reinvest for growth but is actually losing market share since sales haven't increased.

In Conclusion...

We're a bit apprehensive about ITV because despite more capital being deployed in the business, returns on that capital and sales have both fallen. Long term shareholders who've owned the stock over the last five years have experienced a 27% 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.

If you'd like to know about the risks facing ITV, we've discovered 2 warning signs that you should be aware of.

While ITV 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. 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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