What trends should we look for it we want to identify stocks that can multiply in value over the long term? Firstly, we'd want to identify a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and then alongside that, an ever-increasing base of capital employed. Ultimately, this demonstrates that it's a business that is reinvesting profits at increasing rates of return. So on that note, Francotyp-Postalia Holding (ETR:FPH) looks quite promising in regards to its trends of return on capital.

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 Francotyp-Postalia Holding is:

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

0.17 = €9.4m ÷ (€177m - €122m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2023).

So, Francotyp-Postalia Holding has an ROCE of 17%. In absolute terms, that's a satisfactory return, but compared to the Commercial Services industry average of 8.5% it's much better.

See our latest analysis for Francotyp-Postalia Holding

Above you can see how the current ROCE for Francotyp-Postalia Holding compares to its prior returns on capital, but there's only so much you can tell from the past. If you're interested, you can view the analysts predictions in our free analyst report for Francotyp-Postalia Holding .

The Trend Of ROCE

We're pretty happy with how the ROCE has been trending at Francotyp-Postalia Holding. The data shows that returns on capital have increased by 141% 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. Interestingly, the business may be becoming more efficient because it's applying 43% less capital than it was five years ago. Francotyp-Postalia Holding may be selling some assets so it's worth investigating if the business has plans for future investments to increase returns further still.

On a side note, we noticed that the improvement in ROCE appears to be partly fueled by an increase in current liabilities. The current liabilities has increased to 69% of total assets, so the business is now more funded by the likes of its suppliers or short-term creditors. And with current liabilities at those levels, that's pretty high.

The Key Takeaway

From what we've seen above, Francotyp-Postalia Holding has managed to increase it's returns on capital all the while reducing it's capital base. Given the stock has declined 24% in the last five years, this could be a good investment if the valuation and other metrics are also appealing. That being the case, research into the company's current valuation metrics and future prospects seems fitting.