Investors Should Be Encouraged By Imperial Oil's (TSE:IMO) Returns On Capital
Finding a business that has the potential to grow substantially is not easy, but it is possible if we look at a few key financial metrics. 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. Basically this means that a company has profitable initiatives that it can continue to reinvest in, which is a trait of a compounding machine. With that in mind, the ROCE of Imperial Oil (TSE:IMO) looks great, so lets see what the trend can tell us.
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. Analysts use this formula to calculate it for Imperial Oil:
Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) ÷ (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)
0.26 = CA$9.4b ÷ (CA$42b - CA$6.6b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2023).
Therefore, Imperial Oil has an ROCE of 26%. In absolute terms that's a great return and it's even better than the Oil and Gas industry average of 19%.
See our latest analysis for Imperial Oil
Above you can see how the current ROCE for Imperial Oil 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 Imperial Oil.
What The Trend Of ROCE Can Tell Us
Imperial Oil has not disappointed with their ROCE growth. The figures show that over the last five years, ROCE has grown 1,130% whilst employing roughly the same amount of capital. So our take on this is that the business has increased efficiencies to generate these higher returns, all the while not needing to make any additional investments. It's worth looking deeper into this though because while it's great that the business is more efficient, it might also mean that going forward the areas to invest internally for the organic growth are lacking.
In Conclusion...
To sum it up, Imperial Oil is collecting higher returns from the same amount of capital, and that's impressive. Since the stock has returned a solid 75% to shareholders over the last five years, it's fair to say investors are beginning to recognize these changes. With that being said, we still think the promising fundamentals mean the company deserves some further due diligence.
On a final note, we've found 1 warning sign for Imperial Oil that we think you should be aware of.
If you want to search for more stocks that have been earning high returns, check out this free list of stocks with solid balance sheets that are also earning high 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.
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