If we want to find a stock that could multiply over the long term, what are the underlying trends we should look for? In a perfect world, we'd like to see a company investing more capital into its business and ideally the returns earned from that capital are also increasing. Basically this means that a company has profitable initiatives that it can continue to reinvest in, which is a trait of a compounding machine. Although, when we looked at GuoCheng MiningLTD (SZSE:000688), it didn't seem to tick all of these boxes.

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. The formula for this calculation on GuoCheng MiningLTD is:

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

0.015 = CN¥86m ÷ (CN¥8.8b - CN¥3.2b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2024).

So, GuoCheng MiningLTD has an ROCE of 1.5%. In absolute terms, that's a low return and it also under-performs the Metals and Mining industry average of 6.7%.

While the past is not representative of the future, it can be helpful to know how a company has performed historically, which is why we have this chart above. If you want to delve into the historical earnings , check out these free graphs detailing revenue and cash flow performance of GuoCheng MiningLTD.

What Can We Tell From GuoCheng MiningLTD's ROCE Trend?

In terms of GuoCheng MiningLTD's historical ROCE movements, the trend isn't fantastic. To be more specific, ROCE has fallen from 17% over the last five years. And considering revenue has dropped while employing more capital, we'd be cautious. If this were to continue, you might be looking at a company that is trying to reinvest for growth but is actually losing market share since sales haven't increased.

While on the subject, we noticed that the ratio of current liabilities to total assets has risen to 36%, which has impacted the ROCE. Without this increase, it's likely that ROCE would be even lower than 1.5%. While the ratio isn't currently too high, it's worth keeping an eye on this because if it gets particularly high, the business could then face some new elements of risk.

What We Can Learn From GuoCheng MiningLTD's ROCE

In summary, we're somewhat concerned by GuoCheng MiningLTD's diminishing returns on increasing amounts of capital. And long term shareholders have watched their investments stay flat over the last five years. Unless there is a shift to a more positive trajectory in these metrics, we would look elsewhere.

One more thing: We've identified 4 warning signs with GuoCheng MiningLTD (at least 1 which doesn't sit too well with us) , and understanding them would certainly be useful.

While GuoCheng MiningLTD may not currently earn the highest returns, we've compiled a list of companies that currently earn more than 25% return on equity. Check out this free list here.

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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.

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