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Today we are going to look at Majestic Gold Corp. (CVE:MJS) to see whether it might be an attractive investment prospect. To be precise, we'll consider its Return On Capital Employed (ROCE), as that will inform our view of the quality of the business.
Firstly, we'll go over how we calculate ROCE. Next, we'll compare it to others in its industry. Last but not least, we'll look at what impact its current liabilities have on its ROCE.
Understanding Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)
ROCE measures the 'return' (pre-tax profit) a company generates from capital employed in its business. Generally speaking a higher ROCE is better. Ultimately, it is a useful but imperfect metric. Author Edwin Whiting says to be careful when comparing the ROCE of different businesses, since 'No two businesses are exactly alike.'
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 Majestic Gold:
0.10 = US$10m ÷ (US$128m - US$28m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2019.)
Therefore, Majestic Gold has an ROCE of 10%.
View our latest analysis for Majestic Gold
Does Majestic Gold Have A Good ROCE?
ROCE can be useful when making comparisons, such as between similar companies. In our analysis, Majestic Gold's ROCE is meaningfully higher than the 2.8% average in the Metals and Mining industry. We consider this a positive sign, because it suggests it uses capital more efficiently than similar companies. Regardless of where Majestic Gold sits next to its industry, its ROCE in absolute terms appears satisfactory, and this company could be worth a closer look.
Majestic Gold has an ROCE of 10%, but it didn't have an ROCE 3 years ago, since it was unprofitable. That suggests the business has returned to profitability.
When considering this metric, keep in mind that it is backwards looking, and 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. Given the industry it operates in, Majestic Gold could be considered cyclical. How cyclical is Majestic Gold? You can see for yourself by looking at this free graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow.
How Majestic Gold's Current Liabilities Impact 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.