Asset turnover

Revenue divided by total assets. The efficiency term in the DuPont decomposition.

The exporter at ₹4,800 crore of revenue on ₹6,200 crore of assets turns 0.774 times.

Business models sort themselves cleanly along this axis. Luxury and pharmaceutical businesses run low turnover and high margin; distribution and grocery run high turnover and thin margin; and the product of the two is what determines whether the return on capital is any good. A retailer earning 3% net margin on 3 times asset turnover produces the same 9% return on assets as a brand earning 9% on 1 times.

Neither route is superior. They fail differently, which is what matters in a downturn.