See Also:
Return on Equity Analysis
Required Rate of Return
Return on Asset Analysis
Financial Ratios
Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC)
Return on Capital Employed (ROCE)

Return on Invested Capital (ROIC) Definition

The return on invested capital (ROIC) is the percentage amount that a company is making for every percentage point over the Cost of Capital|Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC). More specifically, the return on investment capital is the percentage return that a company makes over its invested capital. However, the invested capital is measured by the monetary value needed, instead of the assets that were bought. Therefore invested capital is the amount of long-term debt plus the amount of common and preferred shares.

Return on Invested Capital (ROIC) Formula

The return on invested capital formula is as follows:
Net Operating Profit After Tax (NOPAT)/Invested Capital = ROIC
NOPAT – This is the operating profit in the income statement minus taxes. It should be noted that the interest expense has not been taken out of this equation.
Invested Capital – This is the total amount of long term debt plus the total amount of equity, whether it is from common or preferred. The last part of invested capital is to subtract the amount of cash that the company has on hand.

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Return on Invested Capital (ROIC) Example

For example, Bob is in charge of Rolly Polly Inc., a company that specializes in heavy agricultural and construction equipment. Bob has been curious as to how his company has been performing as of late and decides to look at the company’s return on invested capital analysis. Surprisingly, the company does not keep track of the return on invested capital ratio. Bob decides that he will go ahead and run the ROIC analysis, and obtains the following information:

Long-term debt – $25 million
Shareholder’s Equity – $75 million
Operating Profit – $20 million
Tax Rate – 35%
WACC – 11%

Plugging these numbers into the formula Bob finds the following:

$20 million – (20 million * 35%) = $13 million

$13 million/($25 milion + $75 million) = .13 or 13% = ROIC

To see how well the company is actually generating a return, Bob then compares the 13% to the WACC which is 11%. Thus, Bob find that the company is generating 2% more in profits than it cost to keep operations going.
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