"earn returns on" is correct and usable in written English.
You can use it to describe the action of making money from an investment. For example: "John invested his money in the stock market, hoping to earn returns on his investment."
But those same banks may earn returns on their assets which vary with interest rates.
If they are successful, China may earn returns on its investment abroad as well as at home.
Barclays, albeit no RBS, is also a bank that has consistently failed to earn returns on equity greater than the cost of equity – the purest measure of whether a bank is earning its keep.
Profits, with the help of technology, will recover; the investment bank will earn returns on equity greater than Barclays' cost of equity for a change; and the principle of "pay for performance" can be re-introduced from a new base.
In return for their minimal exposure, Metronet's shareholders expected to earn returns on the equity portion of their contribution of around 20% a year justified at the time on the grounds that the huge PPP deal was a unique and untried proposition.
Financial firms earn returns on their investments by shouldering the risk that they might not be repaid.
This unit is charged with earning returns on this money and also using these billions to hedge the enormous financial institution against bad events.
Another is for wages and thus prices to fall in Portugal and rise in Finland, boosting the demand for Portuguese products at the expense of Finnish ones.Another response is to make transfers from regions doing well to those doing badly either through governments or through individuals earning returns on foreign assets.
Shell says it is earning returns of about 25 percent on the capital invested in the integrated gas business.
"Our focus has been first and foremost on earning returns for our partners," he said.
And perhaps it helps explain why Japanese businesses earn a return-on-equity that is around half what American and European firms make.
