A simple percentage comparison between the profits generated by a business and the net assets (all assets minus all liabilities) used or utilised to generate that profit. E.g. I have £1 Million net assets in a business and make £100,000 profits per annum = 10% Return On Net Assets.
I make a £1 Million profit every year. This sounds good, but if I have used £100 Million of net assets (all the assets minus all the liabilities) to generate this amount then this return is not so good after all. This is because I have only returned 1% on the net value of the assets used in the business to realise this profit.