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. One common approach is to try and find a company with returns on capital employed (ROCE) that are increasing, in conjunction with a growing amount of capital employed. Put simply, these types of businesses are compounding machines, meaning they are continually reinvesting their earnings at ever-higher rates of return. So on that note, H World Group (NASDAQ:HTHT) looks quite promising in regards to its trends of return on capital.

Understanding 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 H World Group is:

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

0.11 = CN¥5.1b ÷ (CN¥61b - CN¥15b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2024).

So, H World Group has an ROCE of 11%. That's a relatively normal return on capital, and it's around the 10% generated by the Hospitality industry.

Above you can see how the current ROCE for H World Group compares to its prior returns on capital, but there's only so much you can tell from the past. If you're interested, you can view the analysts predictions in our free analyst report for H World Group .

The Trend Of ROCE

Investors would be pleased with what's happening at H World Group. The numbers show that in the last five years, the returns generated on capital employed have grown considerably to 11%. Basically the business is earning more per dollar of capital invested and in addition to that, 34% more capital is being employed now too. So we're very much inspired by what we're seeing at H World Group thanks to its ability to profitably reinvest capital.

The Key Takeaway

In summary, it's great to see that H World Group can compound returns by consistently reinvesting capital at increasing rates of return, because these are some of the key ingredients of those highly sought after multi-baggers. Investors may not be impressed by the favorable underlying trends yet because over the last five years the stock has only returned 9.0% to shareholders. Given that, we'd look further into this stock in case it has more traits that could make it multiply in the long term.

If you'd like to know about the risks facing H World Group, we've discovered 1 warning sign that you should be aware of.

While H World Group 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.