If we want to find a potential multi-bagger, often there are underlying trends that can provide clues. 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. Put simply, these types of businesses are compounding machines, meaning they are continually reinvesting their earnings at ever-higher rates of return. Speaking of which, we noticed some great changes in Champion Iron's (ASX:CIA) returns on capital, so let's have a look.

What Is 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 Champion Iron is:

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

0.19 = CA$404m ÷ (CA$2.4b - CA$261m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2023).

Therefore, Champion Iron has an ROCE of 19%. In absolute terms, that's a satisfactory return, but compared to the Metals and Mining industry average of 9.0% it's much better.

See our latest analysis for Champion Iron  roce

In the above chart we have measured Champion Iron'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 freereport on analyst forecasts for the company.

What Does the ROCE Trend For Champion Iron Tell Us?

We like the trends that we're seeing from Champion Iron. Over the last five years, returns on capital employed have risen substantially to 19%. The amount of capital employed has increased too, by 380%. This can indicate that there's plenty of opportunities to invest capital internally and at ever higher rates, a combination that's common among multi-baggers.

In another part of our analysis, we noticed that the company's ratio of current liabilities to total assets decreased to 11%, which broadly means the business is relying less on its suppliers or short-term creditors to fund its operations. So shareholders would be pleased that the growth in returns has mostly come from underlying business performance.



In Conclusion...

All in all, it's terrific to see that Champion Iron is reaping the rewards from prior investments and is growing its capital base. Since the stock has returned a staggering 569% to shareholders over the last five years, it looks like investors are recognizing these changes. With that being said, we still think the promising fundamentals mean the company deserves some further due diligence.

One more thing, we've spotted  2 warning signs  facing Champion Iron that you might find interesting.

If you want to search for solid companies with great earnings, check out this freelist 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.