Marginal Return on Assets

Profitability margins reflect the returns on a company's total investments without regard to the investment date. Some money managers gain insight by measuring the returns on the most recent investments. They do that by computing marginal return on equity, capital, or assets.

Table 11-18. Marginal ROA for Safeway.
YearMarginal ROA (%)
20005
1999-8
19980
1997-10
199627
199530
1994100
199310
199220
1991-23

You can calculate the marginal return on assets by dividing the change in net income by the change in asset value over the period. To calculate the marginal ROA for the past year, calculate the year-over-year change in net income and divide it by the asset growth over the year. Despite the logic, I found the results too volatile ...

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