SCR-Sibelco's (EBR:094426466) Shareholders May Want To Dig Deeper Than Statutory Profit

The recent earnings posted by SCR-Sibelco N.V. (EBR:094426466) were solid, but the stock didn't move as much as we expected. We believe that shareholders have noticed some concerning factors beyond the statutory profit numbers.

See our latest analysis for SCR-Sibelco

How Do Unusual Items Influence Profit?

Importantly, our data indicates that SCR-Sibelco's profit received a boost of €62m in unusual items, over the last year. While it's always nice to have higher profit, a large contribution from unusual items sometimes dampens our enthusiasm. When we analysed the vast majority of listed companies worldwide, we found that significant unusual items are often not repeated. And, after all, that's exactly what the accounting terminology implies. SCR-Sibelco had a rather significant contribution from unusual items relative to its profit to December 2020. All else being equal, this would likely have the effect of making the statutory profit a poor guide to underlying earnings power.

Note: we always recommend investors check balance sheet strength. Click here to be taken to our balance sheet analysis of SCR-Sibelco.

Our Take On SCR-Sibelco's Profit Performance

As we discussed above, we think the significant positive unusual item makes SCR-Sibelco's earnings a poor guide to its underlying profitability. As a result, we think it may well be the case that SCR-Sibelco's underlying earnings power is lower than its statutory profit. On the bright side, the company showed enough improvement to book a profit this year, after losing money last year. The goal of this article has been to assess how well we can rely on the statutory earnings to reflect the company's potential, but there is plenty more to consider. In light of this, if you'd like to do more analysis on the company, it's vital to be informed of the risks involved. For example - SCR-Sibelco has 1 warning sign we think you should be aware of.

Today we've zoomed in on a single data point to better understand the nature of SCR-Sibelco's profit. 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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