Did you know there are some financial metrics that can provide clues of a potential multi-bagger? Firstly, we'd want to identify a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and then alongside that, an ever-increasing base 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. In light of that, when we looked at Eastern Air Logistics (SHSE:601156) and its ROCE trend, we weren't exactly thrilled.

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 Eastern Air Logistics, this is the formula:

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

0.15 = CN¥3.5b ÷ (CN¥28b - CN¥4.3b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2024).

So, Eastern Air Logistics has an ROCE of 15%. On its own, that's a standard return, however it's much better than the 7.0% generated by the Logistics industry.

In the above chart we have measured Eastern Air 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 Eastern Air Logistics .

What The Trend Of ROCE Can Tell Us

In terms of Eastern Air Logistics' historical ROCE movements, the trend isn't fantastic. To be more specific, ROCE has fallen from 27% over the last five years. However it looks like Eastern Air Logistics might be reinvesting for long term growth because while capital employed has increased, the company's sales haven't changed much in the last 12 months. It may take some time before the company starts to see any change in earnings from these investments.

On a side note, Eastern Air Logistics has done well to pay down its current liabilities to 15% 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. 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 Bottom Line

To conclude, we've found that Eastern Air Logistics is reinvesting in the business, but returns have been falling. Additionally, the stock's total return to shareholders over the last three years has been flat, which isn't too surprising. 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 1 warning sign facing Eastern Air Logistics that you might find interesting.

While Eastern Air Logistics isn't earning the highest return, check out this free list of companies that are earning high returns on equity with solid balance sheets.

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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.