Investors Shouldn't Overlook German Values Property Group's (FRA:TVD6) Impressive Returns On Capital

To find a multi-bagger stock, what are the underlying trends we should look for in a business? Amongst other things, we'll want to see two things; firstly, a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and secondly, an expansion in the company's amount of capital employed. Ultimately, this demonstrates that it's a business that is reinvesting profits at increasing rates of return. So when we looked at the ROCE trend of German Values Property Group (FRA:TVD6) we really liked what we saw.

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. Analysts use this formula to calculate it for German Values Property Group:

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

0.29 = €19m ÷ (€82m - €15m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2021).

Therefore, German Values Property Group has an ROCE of 29%. In absolute terms that's a great return and it's even better than the Hospitality industry average of 5.4%.

Check out our latest analysis for German Values Property 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're interested in investigating German Values Property Group's past further, check out this free graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow.

The Trend Of ROCE

The fact that German Values Property Group is now generating some pre-tax profits from its prior investments is very encouraging. The company was generating losses five years ago, but now it's earning 29% which is a sight for sore eyes. In addition to that, German Values Property Group is employing 172% more capital than previously which is expected of a company that's trying to break into profitability. This can tell us that the company has plenty of reinvestment opportunities that are able to generate higher returns.

In another part of our analysis, we noticed that the company's ratio of current liabilities to total assets decreased to 18%, which broadly means the business is relying less on its suppliers or short-term creditors to fund its operations. So this improvement in ROCE has come from the business' underlying economics, which is great to see.

The Key Takeaway

To the delight of most shareholders, German Values Property Group has now broken into profitability. And a remarkable 296% total return over the last five years tells us that investors are expecting more good things to come in the future. So given the stock has proven it has promising trends, it's worth researching the company further to see if these trends are likely to persist.

On a final note, we found 4 warning signs for German Values Property Group (3 shouldn't be ignored) you should be aware of.

German Values Property Group 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.

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.

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