These Return Metrics Don't Make Headlam Group (LON:HEAD) Look Too Strong
If you're looking at a mature business that's past the growth phase, what are some of the underlying trends that pop up? When we see a declining return on capital employed (ROCE) in conjunction with a declining base of capital employed, that's often how a mature business shows signs of aging. Ultimately this means that the company is earning less per dollar invested and on top of that, it's shrinking its base of capital employed. So after we looked into Headlam Group (LON:HEAD), the trends above didn't look too great.
Understanding 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 Headlam Group:
Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) ÷ (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)
0.10 = UK£27m ÷ (UK£468m - UK£205m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2023).
Thus, Headlam Group has an ROCE of 10%. In isolation, that's a pretty standard return but against the Retail Distributors industry average of 13%, it's not as good.
Check out our latest analysis for Headlam Group
In the above chart we have measured Headlam Group's prior ROCE against its prior performance, but the future is arguably more important. If you'd like, you can check out the forecasts from the analysts covering Headlam Group here for free.
The Trend Of ROCE
There is reason to be cautious about Headlam Group, given the returns are trending downwards. Unfortunately the returns on capital have diminished from the 16% that they were earning five years ago. And on the capital employed front, the business is utilizing roughly the same amount of capital as it was back then. Since returns are falling and the business has the same amount of assets employed, this can suggest it's a mature business that hasn't had much growth in the last five years. If these trends continue, we wouldn't expect Headlam Group to turn into a multi-bagger.
On a side note, Headlam Group's current liabilities are still rather high at 44% of total assets. This effectively means that suppliers (or short-term creditors) are funding a large portion of the business, so just be aware that this can introduce some elements of risk. Ideally we'd like to see this reduce as that would mean fewer obligations bearing risks.
The Bottom Line
All in all, the lower returns from the same amount of capital employed aren't exactly signs of a compounding machine. It should come as no surprise then that the stock has fallen 37% over the last five years, so it looks like investors are recognizing these changes. That being the case, unless the underlying trends revert to a more positive trajectory, we'd consider looking elsewhere.
If you want to continue researching Headlam Group, you might be interested to know about the 1 warning sign that our analysis has discovered.
While Headlam Group isn't earning the highest return, check out this free list of companies that are earning high returns on equity with solid balance sheets.
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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.
