Yahoo Finance Here’s What Sumo Group Plc’s (LON:SUMO) Return On Capital Can Tell Us
Today we are going to look at Sumo Group Plc (LON:SUMO) to see whether it might be an attractive investment prospect. To be precise, we'll consider its Return On Capital Employed (ROCE), as that will inform our view of the quality of the business.
First up, we'll look at what ROCE is and how we calculate it. Next, we'll compare it to others in its industry. And finally, we'll look at how its current liabilities are impacting its ROCE.
What is Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)?
ROCE is a measure of a company's yearly pre-tax profit (its return), relative to the capital employed in the business. Generally speaking a higher ROCE is better. In brief, it is a useful tool, but it is not without drawbacks. Renowned investment researcher Michael Mauboussin has suggested that a high ROCE can indicate that 'one dollar invested in the company generates value of more than one dollar'.
How Do You Calculate Return On Capital Employed?
Analysts use this formula to calculate return on capital employed:
Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) ÷ (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)
Or for Sumo Group:
0.063 = UK£3.3m ÷ (UK£68m - UK£16m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2019.)
So, Sumo Group has an ROCE of 6.3%.
View our latest analysis for Sumo Group
Does Sumo Group Have A Good ROCE?
When making comparisons between similar businesses, investors may find ROCE useful. It appears that Sumo Group's ROCE is fairly close to the Entertainment industry average of 6.2%. Separate from how Sumo Group stacks up against its industry, its ROCE in absolute terms is mediocre; relative to the returns on government bonds. Investors may wish to consider higher-performing investments.
The image below shows how Sumo Group's ROCE compares to its industry, and you can click it to see more detail on its past growth.
It is important to remember that ROCE shows past performance, and is not necessarily predictive. ROCE can be misleading for companies in cyclical industries, with returns looking impressive during the boom times, but very weak during the busts. ROCE is only a point-in-time measure. Since the future is so important for investors, you should check out our free report on analyst forecasts for Sumo Group.
Do Sumo Group's Current Liabilities Skew 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. The ROCE equation subtracts current liabilities from capital employed, so a company with a lot of current liabilities appears to have less capital employed, and a higher ROCE than otherwise. To check the impact of this, we calculate if a company has high current liabilities relative to its total assets.
Sumo Group has total assets of UK£68m and current liabilities of UK£16m. Therefore its current liabilities are equivalent to approximately 24% of its total assets. This is a modest level of current liabilities, which would only have a small effect on ROCE.
What We Can Learn From Sumo Group's ROCE
If Sumo Group continues to earn an uninspiring ROCE, there may be better places to invest. Of course, you might also be able to find a better stock than Sumo Group. So you may wish to see this free collection of other companies that have grown earnings strongly.
For those who like to find winning investments this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.
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.
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. Thank you for reading.
