Capital Employed Formula, Calculation and Examples

capital employed formula

A capital Employed calculation in the second method, we need to calculate Non-Current assets and Current Liabilities and Current assets. The amount of Non- current assets and current assets are available on the Assets side of the balance sheet, and current liabilities are on the Liabilities side of the Balance Sheet. Some analysts prefer ROCE over return on equity and return on assets because the return on capital considers both debt and equity financing. These investors believe the return on capital is a better gauge for the performance or profitability of a company over a more extended period of time. Of the three companies, Apple Inc. has the highest return on capital employed of 29.9%.

Return on average capital employed (ROACE) is a ratio that measures a company’s profitability versus the investments it has made in itself. To calculate ROACE, divide earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) by the average total assets minus the average current liabilities. ROACE differs from the return on capital employed (ROCE) because it takes into account the averages of assets and liabilities over a period of time.

NOPAT and Capital Employed Calculation Analysis

Return on capital employed plays an important role in the future investment prospects of a company. A higher ROCE value indicates that an organisation or a company is using their corporate resources effectively to generate maximum profits. In other words, it implies sound financial health and outlook for the company. If we input those figures into the return on capital employed (ROCE) formula, the ROCE of our example company comes out to 15.2%. For ROCE, capital employed captures the total amount of debt financing and equity available to fund operations and purchase assets.

capital employed formula

But keep in mind that you shouldn’t compare the ROCE ratios of companies in different industries. As with any financial metric, it’s best to do an apples-to-apples comparison. As you can see, Sam & Co. is a much larger business than ACE Corp., with higher revenue, EBIT, and total assets. However, when using the ROCE metric, you can see that ACE Corp. is more efficiently generating profit from its capital than Sam & Co.

Return on Capital Employed (ROCE) vs. Return on Invested Capital (ROIC)

At the same time, a lower value of ROCE is not necessarily bad for the company. This is because sometimes, a lower value may be attributed to the high cash-in-hand position of the company. Therefore, high cash-in-hand may pull the ROCE value down, even though the company has a robust financial situation. Read on to learn more about capital employed, its importance and how to calculate it. Assuming that the tax rate for both periods is 30%, NOPAT can be calculated by multiplying EBIT by one minus the tax rate assumption.

  • This is because, unlike other fundamentals such as return on equity (ROE), which only analyzes profitability related to a company’s shareholders’ equity, ROCE considers debt and equity.
  • Return on capital employed is calculated by dividing net operating profit, or earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT), by employed capital.
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Capital employed can give a snapshot of how a company is investing its money. However, it is a frequently used term that is at the same time very difficult to define because there are so many contexts in which it can be used. All definitions generally refer to the capital investment necessary for a business to function. For every dollar of invested capital, ABC Company generated 7.5 cents in operating income. This metric provides an insight into how well a company is investing its money to generate profits.

What is Capital Employed?

Return on capital employed can be calculated by dividing the net operating profit or (EBIT) by the amount of employed capital. We can also calculate ROCE by dividing (EBIT) earnings before interest & taxes by the difference between total assets & current liabilities. Return on capital employed is calculated by dividing net operating profit, or earnings before interest and taxes, by capital employed. The term return on capital employed (ROCE) refers to a financial ratio that can be used to assess a company’s profitability and capital efficiency. In other words, this ratio can help to understand how well a company is generating profits from its capital as it is put to use. ROCE is one of several profitability ratios financial managers, stakeholders, and potential investors may use when analyzing a company for investment.

Many people believe that ROCE is the most important of all accounting ratios. The higher the ratio, the more efficient the company has been in using funds entrusted to it. Now that you are aware of the meaning of capital employed, let’s move on to its other aspects.

Understanding Return on Capital Employed (ROCE)

Capital employed is calculated by taking total assets from the balance sheet and subtracting current liabilities, which are short-term financial obligations. Put simply, it measures how good a business is at generating profits from capital. The roce ratio determines the efficiency of a company in using its capital. While there is no industry standard, a higher return on capital employed suggests a more efficient company, at least in terms of capital employment.

Let us take the example of Apple Inc.’s financial position of 2018 to illustrate the concept of CE. As of September 29, 2018, the company reported total assets of $365.73 billion and total current liabilities of $116.87 billion. There are a number of different financial metrics that help analysts and investors review the financial health and well-being of different companies.