What is EV/Invested Capital?
EV/Invested Capital is a valuation multiple that compares the enterprise value of a company in relation to its invested capital, i.e. the sum of fixed assets and net working capital (NWC).
How to Calculate EV/Invested Capital (Step-by-Step)
The EV/Invested Capital (EV/IC) multiple is the ratio between a company’s enterprise value and its invested capital.
- Enterprise Value (EV): The enterprise value (EV), the numerator of this multiple, represents the value of a company’s operations from the perspective of all stakeholders, i.e. all group(s) of capital providers.
- Invested Capital (IC): The invested capital (IC), the denominator of this multiple, refers to the total fixed assets and net working capital (NWC) belonging to the company.
The numerator and denominator in a valuation multiple must match in terms of the represented stakeholders, e.g. debt lenders, preferred stockholders, and/or common shareholders.
Since the invested capital (IC) metric – i.e. the sum of a company’s fixed assets and net working capital (NWC) – pertains to all providers of capital, the rule is met.
The EV/invested capital multiple can be thought of as the enterprise value of a company, expressed on the basis of each dollar of invested capital – i.e. the capital provided by its stakeholders – spent on fixed assets (i.e. capital expenditure) and net working capital (NWC).
Learn More → Enterprise Value Quick Primer
EV/Invested Capital Formula
The formula to calculate the EV/invested capital multiple is as follows.
- Enterprise Value (EV) = Equity Value + Net Debt
- Invested Capital (IC) = Fixed Assets + Net Working Capital (NWC)
Note that there is an alternative calculation of the EV/IC multiple, where “Invested Capital” is the sum of total shareholders’ equity and total debt.
- Invested Capital (IC) = Total Shareholders’ Equity + Total Debt
In that case, the EV/IC multiple describes enterprise value on the basis of each and every dollar provided by shareholders and lenders, whereas the prior method – where invested capital is the sum of a company’s fixed assets and net working capital (NWC) – only accounts for the spending on operating items that actually drive future revenue generation.
EV/IC Multiple: Industry Cyclicality and Capital Intensity
Compared to other enterprise value multiples, such as EV/EBITDA or EV/EBIT, the EV/invested capital multiple is not used as frequently.
The enterprise value to invested capital multiple is most applicable to companies with capital-intensive business models, in which its historical and future revenue generation stems primarily from the productivity of its fixed asset base.
The EV/IC multiple remains more stable in periods of cyclicality when the cash flows and earnings of an entire industry – most often in capital-intensive industries such as oil and gas (O&G) – fluctuate substantially.
While other valuation multiples like the price to earnings ratio (P/E) and EV/EBITDA can easily become distorted from the prevailing market conditions, the EV/IC multiple has historically proven to be a more independent (and thus a more reliable) measure of the state of current market pricing.
