The numerator, or the return, which is typically expressed as EBIT which includes the profit before tax, exceptional items. interest and dividends payable. These items are located on the income statement. The denominator, the capital employed, is the sum of all ordinary and preferred-share capital reserves, all debt and finance lease obligations, as well as minority interests and provisions. It can also be calculated by subtracting current liabilities from total assets. All these items are found on the balance sheet.

What Does ROCE Say?

For starters, ROCE is a useful measurement for comparing the relative profitability of companies. But ROCE is also an efficiency measure of sorts; it doesn’t just gauge profitability as profit margin ratios do. ROCE measures profitability after factoring in the amount of capital used. To understand the significance of factoring in employed capital, let’s look at an example. Say Company A makes a profit of $100 on sales of $1,000, and Company B makes $150 on $1,000 of sales. In terms of pure profitability, B, having a 15% profit margin and is far ahead of A, which has a 10% margin. Let’s say A employs $500 of capital, however, and B employs $1,000. Company A has an ROCE of 20% [100/500] while B has an ROCE of only 15% [150/1,000]. The ROCE measurements show us that Company A makes better use of its capital. In other words, it is able to squeeze more earnings out of every dollar of capital it employs. A high ROCE indicates that a larger chunk of profits can be invested back into the company for the benefit of shareholders. The reinvested capital is employed again at a higher rate of return, which helps to produce higher earnings-per-share growth. A high ROCE is, therefore, a sign of a successful growth company.

ROCE in Relation to the Cost of Borrowing

A company’s ROCE should always be compared to the current cost of borrowing. If an investor puts $10,000 into a bank for a year at stable 1.7% interest, the $170 received in interest represents a return on the capital. To justify putting the $10,000 into a business instead, the investor must expect a return that is significantly higher than 1.7%. To deliver a higher return, a public company must raise more money in a cost effective way, which puts it into a good position to see its share price increase; ROCE measures a company’s ability to do this. There are no firm benchmarks, but as a very general rule of thumb, ROCE should be at least double the interest rates. An ROCE any lower than this suggests that a company is making poor use of its capital resources.

Some Guidelines for Analyzing ROCE

Consistency is a key factor of performance. In other words, investors should resist investing on the basis of only one year’s ROCE. Take a look at how ROCE behaves over several years and follow the trend closely. A company that, year after year, earns a higher return on every dollar invested in the business is bound to have a higher market valuation than a company that burns up capital to generate profits. Be on the lookout for sudden changes; a decline in ROCE could signal the loss of competitive advantage.

Because ROCE measures profitability in relation to invested capital, ROCE is important for capital-intensive companies, or firms that require large upfront investments to start producing goods. Examples of capital-intensive companies are those in telecommunications, power utilities, heavy industries and even food service. ROCE has emerged as the undisputed measure of profitability for oil and gas companies which also operate in a capital-intensive industry. In fact, there is often a strong correlation between ROCE and an oil company’s share price performance.

Things to be Aware Of