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Finding a business that has the potential to grow substantially is not easy, but it is possible if we look at a few key financial metrics. Firstly, we'll want to see a proven return on capital employed (ROCE) that is increasing, and secondly, an expanding base 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. Having said that, from a first glance at Angling Direct (LON:ANG) we aren't jumping out of our chairs at how returns are trending, but let's have a deeper look.
Understanding Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)
If you haven't worked with ROCE before, it measures the 'return' (pre-tax profit) a company generates from capital employed in its business. To calculate this metric for Angling Direct, this is the formula:
Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) ÷ (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)
0.096 = UK£4.4m ÷ (UK£59m - UK£12m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to July 2021).
Therefore, Angling Direct has an ROCE of 9.6%. Ultimately, that's a low return and it under-performs the Specialty Retail industry average of 15%.
See our latest analysis for Angling Direct
Above you can see how the current ROCE for Angling Direct compares to its prior returns on capital, but there's only so much you can tell from the past. If you'd like, you can check out the forecasts from the analysts covering Angling Direct here for free.
So How Is Angling Direct's ROCE Trending?
When we looked at the ROCE trend at Angling Direct, we didn't gain much confidence. Around five years ago the returns on capital were 20%, but since then they've fallen to 9.6%. However, given capital employed and revenue have both increased it appears that the business is currently pursuing growth, at the consequence of short term returns. And if the increased capital generates additional returns, the business, and thus shareholders, will benefit in the long run.
On a related note, Angling Direct has decreased its current liabilities to 21% 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
While returns have fallen for Angling Direct in recent times, we're encouraged to see that sales are growing and that the business is reinvesting in its operations. And there could be an opportunity here if other metrics look good too, because the stock has declined 34% in the last three years. As a result, we'd recommend researching this stock further to uncover what other fundamentals of the business can show us.