Yahoo Finance Has Volution Group (LON:FAN) Got What It Takes To Become A Multi-Bagger?
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. 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. Although, when we looked at Volution Group (LON:FAN), it didn't seem to tick all of these boxes.
Understanding Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)
For those that aren't sure what ROCE is, it measures the amount of pre-tax profits a company can generate from the capital employed in its business. The formula for this calculation on Volution Group is:
Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) ÷ (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)
0.053 = UK£15m ÷ (UK£326m - UK£47m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to July 2020).
Therefore, Volution Group has an ROCE of 5.3%. In absolute terms, that's a low return but it's around the Building industry average of 5.5%.
See our latest analysis for Volution Group
In the above chart we have measured Volution Group'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 Volution Group here for free.
What Does the ROCE Trend For Volution Group Tell Us?
On the surface, the trend of ROCE at Volution Group doesn't inspire confidence. Around five years ago the returns on capital were 9.2%, but since then they've fallen to 5.3%. However it looks like Volution Group might be reinvesting for long term growth because while capital employed has increased, the company's sales haven't changed much in the last 12 months. It's worth keeping an eye on the company's earnings from here on to see if these investments do end up contributing to the bottom line.
The Bottom Line
Bringing it all together, while we're somewhat encouraged by Volution Group's reinvestment in its own business, we're aware that returns are shrinking. Yet to long term shareholders the stock has gifted them an incredible 111% return in the last five years, so the market appears to be rosy about its future. Ultimately, if the underlying trends persist, we wouldn't hold our breath on it being a multi-bagger going forward.
On a final note, we've found 3 warning signs for Volution Group that we think you should be aware of.
While Volution Group may not currently earn the highest returns, we've compiled a list of companies that currently earn more than 25% return on equity. Check out this free list here.
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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