Finding a business that has the potential to grow substantially is not easy, but it is possible if we look at a few key financial metrics. 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. With that in mind, we've noticed some promising trends at Top Energy CompanyShanxi (SHSE:600780) so let's look a bit deeper.

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. To calculate this metric for Top Energy CompanyShanxi, this is the formula:

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

0.062 = CN¥494m ÷ (CN¥10b - CN¥2.0b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2023).

Therefore, Top Energy CompanyShanxi has an ROCE of 6.2%. On its own that's a low return on capital but it's in line with the industry's average returns of 6.0%.

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

What The Trend Of ROCE Can Tell Us

Top Energy CompanyShanxi's ROCE growth is quite impressive. Looking at the data, we can see that even though capital employed in the business has remained relatively flat, the ROCE generated has risen by 50% over the last five years. So it's likely that the business is now reaping the full benefits of its past investments, since the capital employed hasn't changed considerably. On that front, things are looking good so it's worth exploring what management has said about growth plans going forward.

The Bottom Line

To sum it up, Top Energy CompanyShanxi is collecting higher returns from the same amount of capital, and that's impressive. And investors seem to expect more of this going forward, since the stock has rewarded shareholders with a 94% return over the last five years. With that being said, we still think the promising fundamentals mean the company deserves some further due diligence.

Before jumping to any conclusions though, we need to know what value we're getting for the current share price. That's where you can check out our FREE intrinsic value estimation for 600780 that compares the share price and estimated value.

While Top Energy CompanyShanxi 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.