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To avoid investing in a business that's in decline, there's a few financial metrics that can provide early indications of aging. More often than not, we'll see a declining return on capital employed (ROCE) and a declining amount of capital employed. Basically the company is earning less on its investments and it is also reducing its total assets. Having said that, after a brief look, Braemar Shipping Services (LON:BMS) we aren't filled with optimism, but let's investigate further.
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. Analysts use this formula to calculate it for Braemar Shipping Services:
Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) ÷ (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)
0.098 = UK£8.0m ÷ (UK£158m - UK£77m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to February 2021).
Thus, Braemar Shipping Services has an ROCE of 9.8%. On its own that's a low return on capital but it's in line with the industry's average returns of 9.7%.
Check out our latest analysis for Braemar Shipping Services
Above you can see how the current ROCE for Braemar Shipping Services compares to its prior returns on capital, but there's only so much you can tell from the past. If you'd like to see what analysts are forecasting going forward, you should check out our free report for Braemar Shipping Services.
What The Trend Of ROCE Can Tell Us
The trend of ROCE at Braemar Shipping Services is showing some signs of weakness. To be more specific, today's ROCE was 12% five years ago but has since fallen to 9.8%. On top of that, the business is utilizing 26% less capital within its operations. The combination of lower ROCE and less capital employed can indicate that a business is likely to be facing some competitive headwinds or seeing an erosion to its moat. Typically businesses that exhibit these characteristics aren't the ones that tend to multiply over the long term, because statistically speaking, they've already gone through the growth phase of their life cycle.
On a side note, Braemar Shipping Services' current liabilities have increased over the last five years to 49% of total assets, effectively distorting the ROCE to some degree. Without this increase, it's likely that ROCE would be even lower than 9.8%. And with current liabilities at these levels, suppliers or short-term creditors are effectively funding a large part of the business, which can introduce some risks.