In This Article:
Today we'll look at IVD Medical Holding Limited (HKG:1931) and reflect on its potential as an investment. Specifically, we'll consider its Return On Capital Employed (ROCE), since that will give us an insight into how efficiently the business can generate profits from the capital it requires.
Firstly, we'll go over how we calculate ROCE. Second, we'll look at its ROCE compared to similar companies. And finally, we'll look at how its current liabilities are impacting its ROCE.
Return On Capital Employed (ROCE): What is it?
ROCE is a measure of a company's yearly pre-tax profit (its return), relative to the capital employed in the business. In general, businesses with a higher ROCE are usually better quality. In brief, it is a useful tool, but it is not without drawbacks. Renowned investment researcher Michael Mauboussin has suggested that a high ROCE can indicate that 'one dollar invested in the company generates value of more than one dollar'.
So, How Do We Calculate ROCE?
The formula for calculating the return on capital employed is:
Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) ÷ (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)
Or for IVD Medical Holding:
0.071 = CN¥159m ÷ (CN¥3.3b - CN¥1.1b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2019.)
Therefore, IVD Medical Holding has an ROCE of 7.1%.
See our latest analysis for IVD Medical Holding
Does IVD Medical Holding Have A Good ROCE?
ROCE is commonly used for comparing the performance of similar businesses. Using our data, IVD Medical Holding's ROCE appears to be around the 8.3% average of the Healthcare industry. Separate from how IVD Medical Holding stacks up against its industry, its ROCE in absolute terms is mediocre; relative to the returns on government bonds. It is possible that there are more rewarding investments out there.
The image below shows how IVD Medical Holding's ROCE compares to its industry, and you can click it to see more detail on its past growth.
When considering this metric, keep in mind that it is backwards looking, and not necessarily predictive. ROCE can be deceptive for cyclical businesses, as returns can look incredible in boom times, and terribly low in downturns. ROCE is only a point-in-time measure. You can check if IVD Medical Holding has cyclical profits by looking at this free graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow.
How IVD Medical Holding's Current Liabilities Impact Its ROCE
Current liabilities include invoices, such as supplier payments, short-term debt, or a tax bill, that need to be paid within 12 months. Due to the way the ROCE equation works, having large bills due in the near term can make it look as though a company has less capital employed, and thus a higher ROCE than usual. To check the impact of this, we calculate if a company has high current liabilities relative to its total assets.