If you're not sure where to start when looking for the next multi-bagger, there are a few key trends you should keep an eye out for. Amongst other things, we'll want to see two things; firstly, a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and secondly, an expansion in the company's amount of capital employed. Basically this means that a company has profitable initiatives that it can continue to reinvest in, which is a trait of a compounding machine. So on that note, Shanjin International Gold (SZSE:000975) looks quite promising in regards to its trends of return on capital.

Return On Capital Employed (ROCE): What Is It?

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 Shanjin International Gold is:

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

0.19 = CN¥2.6b ÷ (CN¥16b - CN¥2.1b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2024).

So, Shanjin International Gold has an ROCE of 19%. In absolute terms, that's a satisfactory return, but compared to the Metals and Mining industry average of 7.0% it's much better.

In the above chart we have measured Shanjin International Gold's prior ROCE against its prior performance, but the future is arguably more important. If you're interested, you can view the analysts predictions in our free analyst report for Shanjin International Gold .

The Trend Of ROCE

Shanjin International Gold is displaying some positive trends. Over the last five years, returns on capital employed have risen substantially to 19%. The company is effectively making more money per dollar of capital used, and it's worth noting that the amount of capital has increased too, by 38%. This can indicate that there's plenty of opportunities to invest capital internally and at ever higher rates, a combination that's common among multi-baggers.

The Key Takeaway

All in all, it's terrific to see that Shanjin International Gold is reaping the rewards from prior investments and is growing its capital base. Since the stock has returned a staggering 107% to shareholders over the last five years, it looks like investors are recognizing these changes. So given the stock has proven it has promising trends, it's worth researching the company further to see if these trends are likely to persist.

If you want to continue researching Shanjin International Gold, you might be interested to know about the 1 warning sign that our analysis has discovered.

While Shanjin International Gold 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.