C-Com Satellite Systems (CVE:CMI) Will Be Hoping To Turn Its Returns On Capital Around

What financial metrics can indicate to us that a company is maturing or even in decline? A business that's potentially in decline often shows two trends, a return on capital employed (ROCE) that's declining, and a base of capital employed that's also declining. This indicates to us that the business is not only shrinking the size of its net assets, but its returns are falling as well. In light of that, from a first glance at C-Com Satellite Systems (CVE:CMI), we've spotted some signs that it could be struggling, so let's investigate.

Understanding Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)

If you haven't worked with ROCE before, it measures the 'return' (pre-tax profit) a company generates from capital employed in its business. To calculate this metric for C-Com Satellite Systems, this is the formula:

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

0.066 = CA$1.6m ÷ (CA$25m - CA$1.1m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to February 2021).

Thus, C-Com Satellite Systems has an ROCE of 6.6%. On its own that's a low return, but compared to the average of 4.8% generated by the Communications industry, it's much better.

Check out our latest analysis for C-Com Satellite Systems

roce

While the past is not representative of the future, it can be helpful to know how a company has performed historically, which is why we have this chart above. If you'd like to look at how C-Com Satellite Systems has performed in the past in other metrics, you can view this free graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow.

So How Is C-Com Satellite Systems' ROCE Trending?

In terms of C-Com Satellite Systems' historical ROCE movements, the trend doesn't inspire confidence. Unfortunately the returns on capital have diminished from the 8.5% that they were earning five years ago. Meanwhile, capital employed in the business has stayed roughly the flat over the period. 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 C-Com Satellite Systems to turn into a multi-bagger.

What We Can Learn From C-Com Satellite Systems' ROCE

All in all, the lower returns from the same amount of capital employed aren't exactly signs of a compounding machine. Yet despite these poor fundamentals, the stock has gained a huge 202% over the last five years, so investors appear very optimistic. Regardless, we don't feel too comfortable with the fundamentals so we'd be steering clear of this stock for now.

If you want to continue researching C-Com Satellite Systems, you might be interested to know about the 4 warning signs that our analysis has discovered.

For those who like to invest in solid companies, check out this free list of companies with solid balance sheets and high returns on equity.

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. 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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