When researching a stock for investment, what can tell us that the company is in decline? When we see a declining return on capital employed (ROCE) in conjunction with a declining base of capital employed, that's often how a mature business shows signs of aging. This indicates the company is producing less profit from its investments and its total assets are decreasing. In light of that, from a first glance at New East New Materials (SHSE:603110), we've spotted some signs that it could be struggling, so let's investigate.

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 New East New Materials, this is the formula:

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

0.013 = CN¥9.0m ÷ (CN¥789m - CN¥114m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2023).

So, New East New Materials has an ROCE of 1.3%. Ultimately, that's a low return and it under-performs the Chemicals industry average of 5.9%.

View our latest analysis for New East New Materials

Historical performance is a great place to start when researching a stock so above you can see the gauge for New East New Materials' ROCE against it's prior returns. If you want to delve into the historical earnings, revenue and cash flow of New East New Materials, check out these free graphs here.

So How Is New East New Materials' ROCE Trending?

There is reason to be cautious about New East New Materials, given the returns are trending downwards. About five years ago, returns on capital were 8.3%, however they're now substantially lower than that as we saw above. On top of that, it's worth noting that the amount of capital employed within the business has remained relatively steady. This combination can be indicative of a mature business that still has areas to deploy capital, but the returns received aren't as high due potentially to new competition or smaller margins. So because these trends aren't typically conducive to creating a multi-bagger, we wouldn't hold our breath on New East New Materials becoming one if things continue as they have.

What We Can Learn From New East New Materials' ROCE

All in all, the lower returns from the same amount of capital employed aren't exactly signs of a compounding machine. Since the stock has skyrocketed 322% over the last five years, it looks like investors have high expectations of the stock. In any case, the current underlying trends don't bode well for long term performance so unless they reverse, we'd start looking elsewhere.

If you'd like to know more about New East New Materials, we've spotted 3 warning signs, and 1 of them makes us a bit uncomfortable.

While New East New Materials isn't earning the highest return, check out this free list of companies that are earning high returns on equity with solid balance sheets.

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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.