If we want to find a potential multi-bagger, often there are underlying trends that can provide clues. Ideally, a business will show two trends; firstly a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and secondly, an increasing 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. With that in mind, we've noticed some promising trends at Samsonite International (HKG:1910) so let's look a bit deeper.

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

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 Samsonite International, this is the formula:

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

0.15 = US$560m ÷ (US$4.8b - US$1.1b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2023).

Thus, Samsonite International has an ROCE of 15%. In absolute terms, that's a satisfactory return, but compared to the Luxury industry average of 11% it's much better.

View our latest analysis for Samsonite International

In the above chart we have measured Samsonite International's prior ROCE against its prior performance, but the future is arguably more important. If you'd like, you can check out the forecasts from the analysts covering Samsonite International here for free.

So How Is Samsonite International's ROCE Trending?

Samsonite International has not disappointed with their ROCE growth. The figures show that over the last five years, ROCE has grown 33% whilst employing roughly the same amount of capital. So our take on this is that the business has increased efficiencies to generate these higher returns, all the while not needing to make any additional investments. On that front, things are looking good so it's worth exploring what management has said about growth plans going forward.

What We Can Learn From Samsonite International's ROCE

As discussed above, Samsonite International appears to be getting more proficient at generating returns since capital employed has remained flat but earnings (before interest and tax) are up. Investors may not be impressed by the favorable underlying trends yet because over the last five years the stock has only returned 12% to shareholders. So exploring more about this stock could uncover a good opportunity, if the valuation and other metrics stack up.

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

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.