Yahoo Finance Media Prima Berhad (KLSE:MEDIA) Is Looking To Continue Growing Its Returns On Capital
What are the early trends we should look for to identify a stock that could multiply in value over the long term? In a perfect world, we'd like to see a company investing more capital into its business and ideally the returns earned from that capital are also increasing. This shows us that it's a compounding machine, able to continually reinvest its earnings back into the business and generate higher returns. With that in mind, we've noticed some promising trends at Media Prima Berhad (KLSE:MEDIA) so let's look a bit deeper.
Return On Capital Employed (ROCE): What Is It?
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. Analysts use this formula to calculate it for Media Prima Berhad:
Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) ÷ (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)
0.13 = RM119m ÷ (RM1.5b - RM533m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2022).
Therefore, Media Prima Berhad has an ROCE of 13%. By itself that's a normal return on capital and it's in line with the industry's average returns of 13%.
Check out our latest analysis for Media Prima Berhad
Above you can see how the current ROCE for Media Prima Berhad compares to its prior returns on capital, but there's only so much you can tell from the past. If you'd like to see what analysts are forecasting going forward, you should check out our free report for Media Prima Berhad.
How Are Returns Trending?
Like most people, we're pleased that Media Prima Berhad is now generating some pretax earnings. Historically the company was generating losses but as we can see from the latest figures referenced above, they're now earning 13% on their capital employed. Additionally, the business is utilizing 23% less capital than it was five years ago, and taken at face value, that can mean the company needs less funds at work to get a return. Media Prima Berhad could be selling under-performing assets since the ROCE is improving.
The Key Takeaway
In summary, it's great to see that Media Prima Berhad has been able to turn things around and earn higher returns on lower amounts of capital. Given the stock has declined 30% in the last five years, this could be a good investment if the valuation and other metrics are also appealing. So researching this company further and determining whether or not these trends will continue seems justified.
If you'd like to know more about Media Prima Berhad, we've spotted 2 warning signs, and 1 of them is a bit concerning.
If you want to search for solid companies with great earnings, check out this free list of companies with good balance sheets and impressive returns on equity.
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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.
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