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. Ideally, a business will show two trends; firstly a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and secondly, an increasing amount of capital employed. 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 Eureka Forbes (NSE:EUREKAFORB) so let's look a bit deeper.
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 Eureka Forbes:
Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) ÷ (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)
0.042 = ₹2.3b ÷ (₹68b - ₹13b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2025).
Therefore, Eureka Forbes has an ROCE of 4.2%. In absolute terms, that's a low return and it also under-performs the Consumer Durables industry average of 11%.
View our latest analysis for Eureka Forbes
In the above chart we have measured Eureka Forbes' prior ROCE against its prior performance, but the future is arguably more important. If you're interested, you can view the analysts predictions in our free analyst report for Eureka Forbes .
Even though ROCE is still low in absolute terms, it's good to see it's heading in the right direction. The numbers show that in the last four years, the returns generated on capital employed have grown considerably to 4.2%. Basically the business is earning more per dollar of capital invested and in addition to that, 117% more capital is being employed now too. So we're very much inspired by what we're seeing at Eureka Forbes thanks to its ability to profitably reinvest capital.
All in all, it's terrific to see that Eureka Forbes is reaping the rewards from prior investments and is growing its capital base. Investors may not be impressed by the favorable underlying trends yet because over the last year the stock has only returned 5.2% to shareholders. So exploring more about this stock could uncover a good opportunity, if the valuation and other metrics stack up.
Before jumping to any conclusions though, we need to know what value we're getting for the current share price. That's where you can check out our FREE intrinsic value estimation for EUREKAFORB that compares the share price and estimated value.
While Eureka Forbes may not currently earn the highest returns, we've compiled a list of companies that currently earn more than 25% return on equity. Check out this free list here.
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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.