Yahoo Finance Be Wary Of AIREA (LON:AIEA) And Its Returns On Capital
If we're looking to avoid a business that is in decline, what are the trends that can warn us ahead of time? A business that's potentially in decline often shows two trends, a return on capital employed (ROCE) that's declining, and a base of capital employed that's also declining. This indicates the company is producing less profit from its investments and its total assets are decreasing. And from a first read, things don't look too good at AIREA (LON:AIEA), so let's see why.
What Is 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 AIREA is:
Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) ÷ (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)
0.053 = UK£1.1m ÷ (UK£25m - UK£4.7m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2022).
Therefore, AIREA has an ROCE of 5.3%. In absolute terms, that's a low return and it also under-performs the Consumer Durables industry average of 14%.
View our latest analysis for AIREA
Historical performance is a great place to start when researching a stock so above you can see the gauge for AIREA's ROCE against it's prior returns. If you're interested in investigating AIREA's past further, check out this free graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow.
The Trend Of ROCE
We are a bit worried about the trend of returns on capital at AIREA. Unfortunately the returns on capital have diminished from the 6.7% that they were earning five years ago. Meanwhile, capital employed in the business has stayed roughly the flat over the period. Since returns are falling and the business has the same amount of assets employed, this can suggest it's a mature business that hasn't had much growth in the last five years. If these trends continue, we wouldn't expect AIREA to turn into a multi-bagger.
The Bottom Line On AIREA's ROCE
All in all, the lower returns from the same amount of capital employed aren't exactly signs of a compounding machine. And long term shareholders have watched their investments stay flat over the last five years. With underlying trends that aren't great in these areas, we'd consider looking elsewhere.
On a final note, we found 3 warning signs for AIREA (1 can't be ignored) you should be aware of.
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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