Ignoring the stock price of a company, what are the underlying trends that tell us a business is past the growth phase? Typically, we'll see the trend of both return on capital employed (ROCE) declining and this usually coincides with a decreasing amount of capital employed. Trends like this ultimately mean the business is reducing its investments and also earning less on what it has invested. On that note, looking into China Railway Tielong Container Logistics (SHSE:600125), we weren't too upbeat about how things were going.

What Is 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 China Railway Tielong Container Logistics is:

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

0.078 = CN¥642m ÷ (CN¥10b - CN¥1.7b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2023).

So, China Railway Tielong Container Logistics has an ROCE of 7.8%. On its own that's a low return, but compared to the average of 4.3% generated by the Transportation industry, it's much better.

In the above chart we have measured China Railway Tielong Container Logistics' 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 China Railway Tielong Container Logistics .

So How Is China Railway Tielong Container Logistics' ROCE Trending?

There is reason to be cautious about China Railway Tielong Container Logistics, given the returns are trending downwards. Unfortunately the returns on capital have diminished from the 10% that they were earning five years ago. On top of that, it's worth noting that the amount of capital employed within the business has remained relatively steady. This combination can be indicative of a mature business that still has areas to deploy capital, but the returns received aren't as high due potentially to new competition or smaller margins. If these trends continue, we wouldn't expect China Railway Tielong Container Logistics to turn into a multi-bagger.

On a related note, China Railway Tielong Container Logistics has decreased its current liabilities to 17% of total assets. So we could link some of this to the decrease in ROCE. Effectively this means their suppliers or short-term creditors are funding less of the business, which reduces some elements of risk. Since the business is basically funding more of its operations with it's own money, you could argue this has made the business less efficient at generating ROCE.

The Bottom Line On China Railway Tielong Container Logistics' ROCE

In the end, the trend of lower returns on the same amount of capital isn't typically an indication that we're looking at a growth stock. And long term shareholders have watched their investments stay flat over the last five years. That being the case, unless the underlying trends revert to a more positive trajectory, we'd consider looking elsewhere.

One more thing to note, we've identified 1 warning sign with China Railway Tielong Container Logistics and understanding it should be part of your investment process.

If you want to search for solid companies with great earnings, check out this free list of companies with good balance sheets and impressive returns on equity.

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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.