What underlying fundamental trends can indicate that a company might be in decline? 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. And from a first read, things don't look too good at Fujian Mindong Electric Power Limited (SZSE:000993), so let's see why.

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 Fujian Mindong Electric Power Limited, this is the formula:

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

0.025 = CN¥76m ÷ (CN¥3.4b - CN¥316m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2024).

Therefore, Fujian Mindong Electric Power Limited has an ROCE of 2.5%. Ultimately, that's a low return and it under-performs the Renewable Energy industry average of 5.6%.

While the past is not representative of the future, it can be helpful to know how a company has performed historically, which is why we have this chart above. If you want to delve into the historical earnings , check out these free graphs detailing revenue and cash flow performance of Fujian Mindong Electric Power Limited.

The Trend Of ROCE

We are a bit worried about the trend of returns on capital at Fujian Mindong Electric Power Limited. About five years ago, returns on capital were 6.7%, however they're now substantially lower than that as we saw above. Meanwhile, capital employed in the business has stayed roughly the flat over the period. Since returns are falling and the business has the same amount of assets employed, this can suggest it's a mature business that hasn't had much growth in the last five years. So because these trends aren't typically conducive to creating a multi-bagger, we wouldn't hold our breath on Fujian Mindong Electric Power Limited becoming one if things continue as they have.

On a related note, Fujian Mindong Electric Power Limited has decreased its current liabilities to 9.3% of total assets. So we could link some of this to the decrease in ROCE. What's more, this can reduce some aspects of risk to the business because now the company's suppliers or short-term creditors are funding less of its operations. Some would claim this reduces the business' efficiency at generating ROCE since it is now funding more of the operations with its own money.

The Key Takeaway

In summary, it's unfortunate that Fujian Mindong Electric Power Limited is generating lower returns from the same amount of capital. In spite of that, the stock has delivered a 30% return to shareholders who held over the last five years. Either way, we aren't huge fans of the current trends and so with that we think you might find better investments elsewhere.

One more thing: We've identified 2 warning signs with Fujian Mindong Electric Power Limited (at least 1 which shouldn't be ignored) , and understanding these would certainly be useful.

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.