If you’re looking at a mature business that’s past the growth phase, what are some of the underlying trends that pop up? 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. So after glancing at the trends within Genting Singapore (SGX:G13), we weren’t too hopeful.

What Is Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)?

For those who don’t know, ROCE is a measure of a company’s yearly pre-tax profit (its return), relative to the capital employed in the business. Analysts use this formula to calculate it for Genting Singapore:

Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) ÷ (Total Assets – Current Liabilities)

0.054 = S$440m ÷ (S$8.8b – S$591m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2022).

Thus, Genting Singapore has an ROCE of 5.4%. In absolute terms, that’s a low return, but it’s much better than the Hospitality industry average of 2.1%.

Check out our latest analysis for Genting Singapore

In the above chart we have measured Genting Singapore’s prior ROCE against its prior performance, but the future is arguably more important. If you’re interested, you can view the analysts predictions in our free report on analyst forecasts for the company.

What Can We Tell From Genting Singapore’s ROCE Trend?

In terms of Genting Singapore’s historical ROCE movements, the trend doesn’t inspire confidence. About five years ago, returns on capital were 9.8%, however they’re now substantially lower than that as we saw above. Meanwhile, capital employed in the business has stayed roughly the flat over the period. This combination can be indicative of a mature business that still has areas to deploy capital, but the returns received aren’t as high due potentially to new competition or smaller margins. So because these trends aren’t typically conducive to creating a multi-bagger, we wouldn’t hold our breath on Genting Singapore becoming one if things continue as they have.

In Conclusion…

In the end, the trend of lower returns on the same amount of capital isn’t typically an indication that we’re looking at a growth stock. Despite the concerning underlying trends, the stock has actually gained 16% over the last five years, so it might be that the investors are expecting the trends to reverse. Either way, we aren’t huge fans of the current trends and so with that we think you might find better investments elsewhere.

One more thing to note, we’ve identified 1 warning sign with Genting Singapore and understanding it should be part of your investment process.

If you want to search for solid companies with great earnings, check out this free list of companies with good balance sheets and impressive returns on equity.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.