If we want to find a stock that could multiply over the long term, what are the underlying trends we should look 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. Although, when we looked at China Education Group Holdings (HKG:839), it didn't seem to tick all of these boxes.

Understanding Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)

For those who don't know, ROCE is a measure of a company's yearly pre-tax profit (its return), relative to the capital employed in the business. To calculate this metric for China Education Group Holdings, this is the formula:

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

0.08 = CN¥2.2b ÷ (CN¥36b - CN¥8.2b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to August 2023).

Thus, China Education Group Holdings has an ROCE of 8.0%. In absolute terms, that's a low return and it also under-performs the Consumer Services industry average of 10%.

See our latest analysis for China Education Group Holdings

Above you can see how the current ROCE for China Education Group Holdings 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 report on analyst forecasts for the company.

What The Trend Of ROCE Can Tell Us

In terms of China Education Group Holdings' historical ROCE trend, it doesn't exactly demand attention. The company has employed 294% more capital in the last five years, and the returns on that capital have remained stable at 8.0%. This poor ROCE doesn't inspire confidence right now, and with the increase in capital employed, it's evident that the business isn't deploying the funds into high return investments.

The Bottom Line

In conclusion, China Education Group Holdings has been investing more capital into the business, but returns on that capital haven't increased. And investors appear hesitant that the trends will pick up because the stock has fallen 44% in the last five years. On the whole, we aren't too inspired by the underlying trends and we think there may be better chances of finding a multi-bagger elsewhere.

One more thing, we've spotted 4 warning signs facing China Education Group Holdings that you might find interesting.

While China Education Group Holdings 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.