Yahoo Finance The Returns At O'Key Group (LON:OKEY) Aren't Growing
If we want to find a stock that could multiply over the long term, what are the underlying trends we should look for? Amongst other things, we'll want to see two things; firstly, a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and secondly, an expansion in the company's amount 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. In light of that, when we looked at O'Key Group (LON:OKEY) and its ROCE trend, we weren't exactly thrilled.
Return On Capital Employed (ROCE): What is it?
If you haven't worked with ROCE before, it measures the 'return' (pre-tax profit) a company generates from capital employed in its business. Analysts use this formula to calculate it for O'Key Group:
Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) ÷ (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)
0.092 = ₽6.0b ÷ (₽107b - ₽42b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2021).
Thus, O'Key Group has an ROCE of 9.2%. On its own, that's a low figure but it's around the 10% average generated by the Consumer Retailing industry.
Check out our latest analysis for O'Key Group
Above you can see how the current ROCE for O'Key Group compares to its prior returns on capital, but there's only so much you can tell from the past. If you're interested, you can view the analysts predictions in our free report on analyst forecasts for the company.
What The Trend Of ROCE Can Tell Us
Over the past five years, O'Key Group's ROCE and capital employed have both remained mostly flat. Businesses with these traits tend to be mature and steady operations because they're past the growth phase. With that in mind, unless investment picks up again in the future, we wouldn't expect O'Key Group to be a multi-bagger going forward.
The Bottom Line On O'Key Group's ROCE
We can conclude that in regards to O'Key Group's returns on capital employed and the trends, there isn't much change to report on. Since the stock has declined 66% over the last five years, investors may not be too optimistic on this trend improving either. All in all, the inherent trends aren't typical of multi-baggers, so if that's what you're after, we think you might have more luck elsewhere.
O'Key Group does come with some risks though, we found 4 warning signs in our investment analysis, and 2 of those make us uncomfortable...
For those who like to invest in solid companies, check out this free list of companies with solid balance sheets and high returns on equity.
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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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