HC Surgical Specialists' (Catalist:1B1) Returns Have Hit A Wall

To find a multi-bagger stock, what are the underlying trends we should look for in a business? Firstly, we'll want to see a proven return on capital employed (ROCE) that is increasing, and secondly, an expanding base of capital employed. If you see this, it typically means it's a company with a great business model and plenty of profitable reinvestment opportunities. Having said that, while the ROCE is currently high for HC Surgical Specialists (Catalist:1B1), we aren't jumping out of our chairs because returns are decreasing.

Understanding 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. The formula for this calculation on HC Surgical Specialists is:

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

0.26 = S$5.3m ÷ (S$29m - S$9.1m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to November 2023).

Thus, HC Surgical Specialists has an ROCE of 26%. In absolute terms that's a great return and it's even better than the Healthcare industry average of 6.9%.

View our latest analysis for HC Surgical Specialists

While the past is not representative of the future, it can be helpful to know how a company has performed historically, which is why we have this chart above. If you want to delve into the historical earnings , check out these free graphs detailing revenue and cash flow performance of HC Surgical Specialists.

What Does the ROCE Trend For HC Surgical Specialists Tell Us?

Over the past five years, HC Surgical Specialists' ROCE and capital employed have both remained mostly flat. It's not uncommon to see this when looking at a mature and stable business that isn't re-investing its earnings because it has likely passed that phase of the business cycle. So it may not be a multi-bagger in the making, but given the decent 26% return on capital, it'd be difficult to find fault with the business's current operations.

Another point to note, we noticed the company has increased current liabilities over the last five years. This is intriguing because if current liabilities hadn't increased to 31% of total assets, this reported ROCE would probably be less than26% because total capital employed would be higher.The 26% ROCE could be even lower if current liabilities weren't 31% of total assets, because the the formula would show a larger base of total capital employed. So while current liabilities isn't high right now, keep an eye out in case it increases further, because this can introduce some elements of risk.

In Conclusion...

While HC Surgical Specialists has impressive profitability from its capital, it isn't increasing that amount of capital. Since the stock has declined 40% over the last five years, investors may not be too optimistic on this trend improving either. In any case, the stock doesn't have these traits of a multi-bagger discussed above, so if that's what you're looking for, we think you'd have more luck elsewhere.

On a final note, we found 5 warning signs for HC Surgical Specialists (2 are potentially serious) you should be aware of.

HC Surgical Specialists is not the only stock earning high returns. If you'd like to see more, check out our free list of companies earning high returns on equity with solid fundamentals.

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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.