Some Investors May Be Worried About Big River Industries' (ASX:BRI) Returns On Capital
What are the early trends we should look for to identify a stock that could multiply in value over the long term? 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. If you see this, it typically means it's a company with a great business model and plenty of profitable reinvestment opportunities. Although, when we looked at Big River Industries (ASX:BRI), it didn't seem to tick all of these boxes.
Return On Capital Employed (ROCE): What is it?
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. To calculate this metric for Big River Industries, this is the formula:
Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) ÷ (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)
0.089 = AU$9.5m ÷ (AU$151m - AU$45m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2020).
Thus, Big River Industries has an ROCE of 8.9%. On its own, that's a low figure but it's around the 7.5% average generated by the Forestry industry.
See our latest analysis for Big River Industries
In the above chart we have measured Big River Industries' prior ROCE against its prior performance, but the future is arguably more important. If you're interested, you can view the analysts predictions in our free report on analyst forecasts for the company.
What Does the ROCE Trend For Big River Industries Tell Us?
In terms of Big River Industries' historical ROCE movements, the trend isn't fantastic. Over the last five years, returns on capital have decreased to 8.9% from 12% five years ago. On the other hand, the company has been employing more capital without a corresponding improvement in sales in the last year, which could suggest these investments are longer term plays. It may take some time before the company starts to see any change in earnings from these investments.
On a related note, Big River Industries has decreased its current liabilities to 30% of total assets. That could partly explain why the ROCE has dropped. Effectively this means their suppliers or short-term creditors are funding less of the business, which reduces some elements of risk. Some would claim this reduces the business' efficiency at generating ROCE since it is now funding more of the operations with its own money.
In Conclusion...
To conclude, we've found that Big River Industries is reinvesting in the business, but returns have been falling. Additionally, the stock's total return to shareholders over the last three years has been flat, which isn't too surprising. 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.
If you'd like to know about the risks facing Big River Industries, we've discovered 2 warning signs that you should be aware of.
While Big River Industries 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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