What trends should we look for it we want to identify stocks that can multiply in value over the long term? Ideally, a business will show two trends; firstly a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and secondly, an increasing amount of capital employed. Basically this means that a company has profitable initiatives that it can continue to reinvest in, which is a trait of a compounding machine. So on that note, Mandarin Oriental International (SGX:M04) looks quite promising in regards to its trends of return on capital.

Understanding Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)

If you haven't worked with ROCE before, it measures the 'return' (pre-tax profit) a company generates from capital employed in its business. The formula for this calculation on Mandarin Oriental International is:

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

0.029 = US$96m ÷ (US$3.6b - US$175m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2024).

Thus, Mandarin Oriental International has an ROCE of 2.9%. Ultimately, that's a low return and it under-performs the Hospitality industry average of 5.5%.

Historical performance is a great place to start when researching a stock so above you can see the gauge for Mandarin Oriental International's ROCE against it's prior returns. If you're interested in investigating Mandarin Oriental International's past further, check out this free graph covering Mandarin Oriental International's past earnings, revenue and cash flow.

How Are Returns Trending?

Even though ROCE is still low in absolute terms, it's good to see it's heading in the right direction. The data shows that returns on capital have increased by 73% over the trailing five years. That's not bad because this tells for every dollar invested (capital employed), the company is increasing the amount earned from that dollar. Speaking of capital employed, the company is actually utilizing 32% less than it was five years ago, which can be indicative of a business that's improving its efficiency. A business that's shrinking its asset base like this isn't usually typical of a soon to be multi-bagger company.

What We Can Learn From Mandarin Oriental International's ROCE

In summary, it's great to see that Mandarin Oriental International has been able to turn things around and earn higher returns on lower amounts of capital. Considering the stock has delivered 21% to its stockholders over the last five years, it may be fair to think that investors aren't fully aware of the promising trends yet. Given that, we'd look further into this stock in case it has more traits that could make it multiply in the long term.

One more thing to note, we've identified 1 warning sign with Mandarin Oriental International and understanding it should be part of your investment process.

While Mandarin Oriental International may not currently earn the highest returns, we've compiled a list of companies that currently earn more than 25% return on equity. Check out this free list here.

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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.