If we want to find a potential multi-bagger, often there are underlying trends that can provide clues. One common approach is to try and find a company with returns on capital employed (ROCE) that are increasing, in conjunction with a growing amount of capital employed. If you see this, it typically means it's a company with a great business model and plenty of profitable reinvestment opportunities. Although, when we looked at China Tourism Group Duty Free (SHSE:601888), it didn't seem to tick all of these boxes.

What Is Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)?

Just to clarify if you're unsure, ROCE is a metric for evaluating how much pre-tax income (in percentage terms) a company earns on the capital invested in its business. The formula for this calculation on China Tourism Group Duty Free is:

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

0.074 = CN¥4.7b ÷ (CN¥79b - CN¥16b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2023).

Thus, China Tourism Group Duty Free has an ROCE of 7.4%. In absolute terms, that's a low return, but it's much better than the Specialty Retail industry average of 4.9%.

Check out our latest analysis for China Tourism Group Duty Free

Above you can see how the current ROCE for China Tourism Group Duty Free 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.

The Trend Of ROCE

In terms of China Tourism Group Duty Free's historical ROCE movements, the trend isn't fantastic. Around five years ago the returns on capital were 29%, but since then they've fallen to 7.4%. Although, given both revenue and the amount of assets employed in the business have increased, it could suggest the company is investing in growth, and the extra capital has led to a short-term reduction in ROCE. If these investments prove successful, this can bode very well for long term stock performance.

The Bottom Line On China Tourism Group Duty Free's ROCE

While returns have fallen for China Tourism Group Duty Free in recent times, we're encouraged to see that sales are growing and that the business is reinvesting in its operations. In light of this, the stock has only gained 38% over the last five years. Therefore we'd recommend looking further into this stock to confirm if it has the makings of a good investment.

If you'd like to know about the risks facing China Tourism Group Duty Free, we've discovered 2 warning signs that you should be aware of.

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.