If you're looking at a mature business that's past the growth phase, what are some of the underlying trends that pop up? More often than not, we'll see a declining return on capital employed (ROCE) and a declining amount of capital employed. This combination can tell you that not only is the company investing less, it's earning less on what it does invest. So after glancing at the trends within Longmaster Information & Technology (SZSE:300288), we weren't too hopeful.

What Is Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)?

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 Longmaster Information & Technology is:

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

0.038 = CN¥63m ÷ (CN¥2.0b - CN¥293m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2023).

So, Longmaster Information & Technology has an ROCE of 3.8%. In absolute terms, that's a low return and it also under-performs the Healthcare Services industry average of 8.8%.

View our latest analysis for Longmaster Information & Technology

Historical performance is a great place to start when researching a stock so above you can see the gauge for Longmaster Information & Technology's ROCE against it's prior returns. If you'd like to look at how Longmaster Information & Technology has performed in the past in other metrics, you can view this free graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow.

So How Is Longmaster Information & Technology's ROCE Trending?

There is reason to be cautious about Longmaster Information & Technology, given the returns are trending downwards. Unfortunately the returns on capital have diminished from the 5.1% that they were earning five years ago. On top of that, it's worth noting that the amount of capital employed within the business has remained relatively steady. Companies that exhibit these attributes tend to not be shrinking, but they can be mature and facing pressure on their margins from competition. So because these trends aren't typically conducive to creating a multi-bagger, we wouldn't hold our breath on Longmaster Information & Technology becoming one if things continue as they have.

In Conclusion...

In the end, the trend of lower returns on the same amount of capital isn't typically an indication that we're looking at a growth stock. In spite of that, the stock has delivered a 21% return to shareholders who held over the last five years. Regardless, we don't like the trends as they are and if they persist, we think you might find better investments elsewhere.

If you want to continue researching Longmaster Information & Technology, you might be interested to know about the 2 warning signs that our analysis has discovered.

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.