If we want to find a stock that could multiply over the long term, what are the underlying trends we should look for? 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. Put simply, these types of businesses are compounding machines, meaning they are continually reinvesting their earnings at ever-higher rates of return. So when we looked at the ROCE trend of Booktopia Group (ASX:BKG) we really liked what we saw.

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. Analysts use this formula to calculate it for Booktopia Group:

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

0.21 = AU$9.0m ÷ (AU$77m - AU$34m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2021).

Thus, Booktopia Group has an ROCE of 21%.  In absolute terms that's a great return but compared to the Online Retail industry average of 28% it falls short.

Check out our latest analysis for Booktopia Group  roce

Above you can see how the current ROCE for Booktopia Group 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 freereport for Booktopia Group.

The Trend Of ROCE

We like the trends that we're seeing from Booktopia Group. The numbers show that in the last one year, the returns generated on capital employed have grown considerably to 21%. The company is effectively making more money per dollar of capital used, and it's worth noting that the amount of capital has increased too, by 58%. The increasing returns on a growing amount of capital is common amongst multi-baggers and that's why we're impressed.



One more thing to note, Booktopia Group has decreased current liabilities to 45% of total assets over this period, which effectively reduces the amount of funding from suppliers or short-term creditors. So shareholders would be pleased that the growth in returns has mostly come from underlying business performance. However, current liabilities are still at a pretty high level, so just be aware that this can bring with it some risks.

What We Can Learn From Booktopia Group's ROCE

In summary, it's great to see that Booktopia Group can compound returns by consistently reinvesting capital at increasing rates of return, because these are some of the key ingredients of those highly sought after multi-baggers. And since the stock has fallen 22% over the last year, there might be an opportunity here. So researching this company further and determining whether or not these trends will continue seems justified.

One more thing, we've spotted  1 warning sign  facing Booktopia Group that you might find interesting.

Booktopia Group is not the only stock earning high returns. If you'd like to see more, check out our free list of companies earning high returns on equity with solid fundamentals.

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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.