Définition
Return on assets or ROA measures the operating profits (activity) of the company independently of its methods of financing. It is equal to the ratio between the gross operating surplus and the sum of the intangible and tangible fixed assets and the working capital requirement.
The sum in the denominator is called " economic asset " or " economic capital ": it indeed represents the resources committed by the company in the cycles of exploitation and investment, in other words what the company needs to work.
This ratio is not affected by the financial structure of the company.