Andrews Sykes Group (LON:ASY) Is Reinvesting At Lower Rates Of Return

If we want to find a stock that could multiply over the long term, what are the underlying trends we should look for? One common approach is to try and find a company with returns on capital employed (ROCE) that are increasing, in conjunction with a growing amount 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. Looking at Andrews Sykes Group (LON:ASY), it does have a high ROCE right now, but lets see how returns are trending.

Understanding Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)

Just to clarify if you're unsure, ROCE is a metric for evaluating how much pre-tax income (in percentage terms) a company earns on the capital invested in its business. The formula for this calculation on Andrews Sykes Group is:

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

0.26 = UK£20m ÷ (UK£97m - UK£19m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2021).

Thus, Andrews Sykes Group has an ROCE of 26%. In absolute terms that's a great return and it's even better than the Trade Distributors industry average of 14%.

See our latest analysis for Andrews Sykes Group

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, revenue and cash flow of Andrews Sykes Group, check out these free graphs here.

How Are Returns Trending?

In terms of Andrews Sykes Group's historical ROCE movements, the trend isn't fantastic. Historically returns on capital were even higher at 33%, but they have dropped over the last five years. Although, given both revenue and the amount of assets employed in the business have increased, it could suggest the company is investing in growth, and the extra capital has led to a short-term reduction in ROCE. If these investments prove successful, this can bode very well for long term stock performance.

The Bottom Line On Andrews Sykes Group's ROCE

In summary, despite lower returns in the short term, we're encouraged to see that Andrews Sykes Group is reinvesting for growth and has higher sales as a result. These trends are starting to be recognized by investors since the stock has delivered a 13% gain to shareholders who've held over the last five years. Therefore we'd recommend looking further into this stock to confirm if it has the makings of a good investment.

One final note, you should learn about the 2 warning signs we've spotted with Andrews Sykes Group (including 1 which is a bit unpleasant) .

If you'd like to see other companies earning high returns, check out our free list of companies earning high returns with solid balance sheets here.

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.

Join A Paid User Research Session
You’ll receive a US$30 Amazon Gift card for 1 hour of your time while helping us build better investing tools for the individual investors like yourself. Sign up here