Does CSC Holdings's (SGX:C06) Statutory Profit Adequately Reflect Its Underlying Profit?

Many investors consider it preferable to invest in profitable companies over unprofitable ones, because profitability suggests a business is sustainable. That said, the current statutory profit is not always a good guide to a company's underlying profitability. In this article, we'll look at how useful this year's statutory profit is, when analysing CSC Holdings (SGX:C06).

We like the fact that CSC Holdings made a profit of S$5.55m on its revenue of S$342.8m, in the last year. The chart below shows that revenue has improved over the last three years, and, even better, the company has moved from unprofitable to profitable.

See our latest analysis for CSC Holdings

Importantly, statutory profits are not always the best tool for understanding a company's true earnings power, so it's well worth examining profits in a little more detail. So today we'll look at what CSC Holdings's cashflow tells us about its earnings, as well as examining how issuing shares is impacting shareholder value. Note: we always recommend investors check balance sheet strength. Click here to be taken to our balance sheet analysis of CSC Holdings.

Examining Cashflow Against CSC Holdings's Earnings

In high finance, the key ratio used to measure how well a company converts reported profits into free cash flow (FCF) is the accrual ratio (from cashflow). To get the accrual ratio we first subtract FCF from profit for a period, and then divide that number by the average operating assets for the period. This ratio tells us how much of a company's profit is not backed by free cashflow.

That means a negative accrual ratio is a good thing, because it shows that the company is bringing in more free cash flow than its profit would suggest. While having an accrual ratio above zero is of little concern, we do think it's worth noting when a company has a relatively high accrual ratio. To quote a 2014 paper by Lewellen and Resutek, "firms with higher accruals tend to be less profitable in the future".

For the year to March 2020, CSC Holdings had an accrual ratio of -0.11. That indicates that its free cash flow was a fair bit more than its statutory profit. Indeed, in the last twelve months it reported free cash flow of S$29m, well over the S$5.55m it reported in profit. Notably, CSC Holdings had negative free cash flow last year, so the S$29m it produced this year was a welcome improvement. Unfortunately for shareholders, the company has also been issuing new shares, diluting their share of future earnings.

In order to understand the potential for per share returns, it is essential to consider how much a company is diluting shareholders. As it happens, CSC Holdings issued 13% more new shares over the last year. Therefore, each share now receives a smaller portion of profit. To celebrate net income while ignoring dilution is like rejoicing because you have a single slice of a larger pizza, but ignoring the fact that the pizza is now cut into many more slices. Check out CSC Holdings's historical EPS growth by clicking on this link.

A Look At The Impact Of CSC Holdings's Dilution on Its Earnings Per Share (EPS).

Three years ago, CSC Holdings lost money. Zooming in to the last year, we still can't talk about growth rates coherently, since it made a loss last year. But mathematics aside, it is always good to see when a formerly unprofitable business come good (though we accept profit would have been higher if dilution had not been required). So you can see that the dilution has had a bit of an impact on shareholders. Therefore, the dilution is having a noteworthy influence on shareholder returns. And so, you can see quite clearly that dilution is influencing shareholder earnings.

If CSC Holdings's EPS can grow over time then that drastically improves the chances of the share price moving in the same direction. However, if its profit increases while its earnings per share stay flat (or even fall) then shareholders might not see much benefit. For the ordinary retail shareholder, EPS is a great measure to check your hypothetical "share" of the company's profit.

Our Take On CSC Holdings's Profit Performance

In conclusion, CSC Holdings has a strong cashflow relative to earnings, which indicates good quality earnings, but the dilution means its earnings per share are dropping faster than its profit. Based on these factors, it's hard to tell if CSC Holdings's profits are a reasonable reflection of its underlying profitability. So if you'd like to dive deeper into this stock, it's crucial to consider any risks it's facing. For instance, we've identified 3 warning signs for CSC Holdings (1 makes us a bit uncomfortable) you should be familiar with.

In this article we've looked at a number of factors that can impair the utility of profit numbers, as a guide to a business. But there are plenty of other ways to inform your opinion of a company. For example, many people consider a high return on equity as an indication of favorable business economics, while others like to 'follow the money' and search out stocks that insiders are buying. So you may wish to see this free collection of companies boasting high return on equity, or this list of stocks that insiders are buying.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
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