Sasol (JSE:SOL) Is Doing The Right Things To Multiply Its Share Price

Simply Wall St
·2 min read

What trends should we look for it we want to identify stocks that can multiply in value over the long term? Firstly, we'd want to identify a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and then alongside that, an ever-increasing base of capital employed. Ultimately, this demonstrates that it's a business that is reinvesting profits at increasing rates of return. Speaking of which, we noticed some great changes in Sasol's (JSE:SOL) returns on capital, so let's have a look.

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. The formula for this calculation on Sasol is:

Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) ÷ (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)

0.15 = R50b ÷ (R420b - R92b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2022).

Thus, Sasol has an ROCE of 15%. In isolation, that's a pretty standard return but against the Chemicals industry average of 19%, it's not as good.

See our latest analysis for Sasol

roce
roce

Above you can see how the current ROCE for Sasol compares to its prior returns on capital, but there's only so much you can tell from the past. If you'd like, you can check out the forecasts from the analysts covering Sasol here for free.

How Are Returns Trending?

Sasol has not disappointed with their ROCE growth. The figures show that over the last five years, ROCE has grown 60% whilst employing roughly the same amount of capital. Basically the business is generating higher returns from the same amount of capital and that is proof that there are improvements in the company's efficiencies. It's worth looking deeper into this though because while it's great that the business is more efficient, it might also mean that going forward the areas to invest internally for the organic growth are lacking.

The Bottom Line

To bring it all together, Sasol has done well to increase the returns it's generating from its capital employed. Astute investors may have an opportunity here because the stock has declined 29% in the last five years. With that in mind, we believe the promising trends warrant this stock for further investigation.

On a final note, we found 3 warning signs for Sasol (1 shouldn't be ignored) you should be aware of.

If you want to search for solid companies with great earnings, check out this free list of companies with good balance sheets and impressive returns on equity.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

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.

Join A Paid User Research Session
You’ll receive a US$30 Amazon Gift card for 1 hour of your time while helping us build better investing tools for the individual investors like yourself. Sign up here