Are Allterco AD's (BUL:A4L) Statutory Earnings A Good Guide To Its Underlying Profitability?

Many investors consider it preferable to invest in profitable companies over unprofitable ones, because profitability suggests a business is sustainable. However, sometimes companies receive a one-off boost (or reduction) to their profit, and it's not always clear whether statutory profits are a good guide, going forward. Today we'll focus on whether this year's statutory profits are a good guide to understanding Allterco AD (BUL:A4L).

While Allterco AD was able to generate revenue of лв40.4m in the last twelve months, we think its profit result of лв6.19m was more important. Happily, it has grown both its profit and revenue over the last three years (though we note its profit is down over the last year).

View our latest analysis for Allterco AD

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 Allterco AD's cashflow and unusual items tell us about the quality of its earnings, as well as touching on how its recent share issues are impacting shareholders. That might leave you wondering what analysts are forecasting in terms of future profitability. Luckily, you can click here to see an interactive graph depicting future profitability, based on their estimates.

A Closer Look At Allterco AD's Earnings

As finance nerds would already know, the accrual ratio from cashflow is a key measure for assessing how well a company's free cash flow (FCF) matches its profit. In plain english, this ratio subtracts FCF from net profit, and divides that number by the company's average operating assets over that period. You could think of the accrual ratio from cashflow as the 'non-FCF profit ratio'.

Therefore, it's actually considered a good thing when a company has a negative accrual ratio, but a bad thing if its accrual ratio is positive. That is not intended to imply we should worry about a positive accrual ratio, but it's worth noting where the accrual ratio is rather high. 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 September 2020, Allterco AD had an accrual ratio of 0.20. We can therefore deduce that its free cash flow fell well short of covering its statutory profit. In fact, it had free cash flow of лв1.4m in the last year, which was a lot less than its statutory profit of лв6.19m. Allterco AD shareholders will no doubt be hoping that its free cash flow bounces back next year, since it was down over the last twelve months. Having said that, there is more to consider. We must also consider the impact of unusual items on statutory profit (and thus the accrual ratio), as well as note the ramifications of the company issuing new shares.

To understand the value of a company's earnings growth, it is imperative to consider any dilution of shareholders' interests. As it happens, Allterco AD issued 20% more new shares over the last year. Therefore, each share now receives a smaller portion of profit. Per share metrics like EPS help us understand how much actual shareholders are benefitting from the company's profits, while the net income level gives us a better view of the company's absolute size. You can see a chart of Allterco AD's EPS by clicking here.

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

Allterco AD has improved its profit over the last three years, with an annualized gain of 658% in that time. Net profit actually dropped by 26% in the last year. Unfortunately for shareholders, though, the earnings per share result was even worse, declining 26%. 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.

In the long term, if Allterco AD's earnings per share can increase, then the share price should too. But on the other hand, we'd be far less excited to learn profit (but not EPS) was improving. For the ordinary retail shareholder, EPS is a great measure to check your hypothetical "share" of the company's profit.

How Do Unusual Items Influence Profit?

Allterco AD's profit suffered from unusual items, which reduced profit by лв5.4m in the last twelve months. In the case where this was a non-cash charge it would have made it easier to have high cash conversion, so it's surprising that the accrual ratio tells a different story. While deductions due to unusual items are disappointing in the first instance, there is a silver lining. We looked at thousands of listed companies and found that unusual items are very often one-off in nature. And, after all, that's exactly what the accounting terminology implies. In the twelve months to September 2020, Allterco AD had a big unusual items expense. All else being equal, this would likely have the effect of making the statutory profit look worse than its underlying earnings power.

Our Take On Allterco AD's Profit Performance

Summing up, Allterco AD's unusual items suggest that its statutory earnings were temporarily depressed, and its accrual ratio indicates a lack of free cash flow relative to profit. And the dilution means that per-share results are weaker than the bottom line might imply. Having considered these factors, we don't think Allterco AD's statutory profits give an overly harsh view of the business. If you'd like to know more about Allterco AD as a business, it's important to be aware of any risks it's facing. Our analysis shows 4 warning signs for Allterco AD (1 is potentially serious!) and we strongly recommend you look at these before investing.

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. Some people consider a high return on equity to be a good sign of a quality business. While it might take a little research on your behalf, you may find this free collection of companies boasting high return on equity, or this list of stocks that insiders are buying to be useful.

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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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