Today we are going to look at Telstra Corporation Limited (ASX:TLS) to see whether it might be an attractive investment prospect. 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.

First, we'll go over how we calculate ROCE. Next, we'll compare it to others in its industry. Finally, we'll look at how its current liabilities affect its ROCE.

Return On Capital Employed (ROCE): What is it?

ROCE is a metric for evaluating how much pre-tax income (in percentage terms) a company earns on the capital invested in its business. All else being equal, a better business will have a higher ROCE. Overall, it is a valuable metric that has its flaws. 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'.

How Do You Calculate Return On Capital Employed?

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 Telstra:

0.082 = AU$2.9b ÷ (AU$44b - AU$8.1b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2018.)

Therefore, Telstra has an ROCE of 8.2%.

View our latest analysis for Telstra

Is Telstra's ROCE Good?

ROCE is commonly used for comparing the performance of similar businesses. Using our data, Telstra's ROCE appears to be around the 8.2% average of the Telecom industry. Separate from how Telstra 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.

Telstra's current ROCE of 8.2% is lower than its ROCE in the past, which was 17%, 3 years ago. Therefore we wonder if the company is facing new headwinds. The image below shows how Telstra's ROCE compares to its industry, and you can click it to see more detail on its past growth.

It is important to remember that ROCE shows past performance, and is not necessarily predictive. Companies in cyclical industries can be difficult to understand using ROCE, as returns typically look high during boom times, and low during busts. ROCE is only a point-in-time measure. What happens in the future is pretty important for investors, so we have prepared a free report on analyst forecasts for Telstra.

Telstra's Current Liabilities And Their Impact On Its ROCE

Current liabilities are short term bills and invoices that need to be paid in 12 months or less. 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 counter this, investors can check if a company has high current liabilities relative to total assets.