Why HIAG Immobilien Holding's (VTX:HIAG) Earnings Are Weaker Than They Seem

We didn't see HIAG Immobilien Holding AG's (VTX:HIAG) stock surge when it reported robust earnings recently. We looked deeper into the numbers and found that shareholders might be concerned with some underlying weaknesses.

View our latest analysis for HIAG Immobilien Holding

Operating Revenue Or Not?

Companies will classify their revenue streams as either operating revenue or other revenue. Where possible, we prefer rely on operating revenue to get a better understanding of how the business is functioning. Importantly, the non-operating revenue often comes without associated ongoing costs, so it can boost profit by letting it fall straight to the bottom line, making the operating business seem better than it really is. It's worth noting that HIAG Immobilien Holding saw a big increase in non-operating revenue over the last year. In fact, our data indicates that non-operating revenue increased from CHF2.88m to CHF16.3m. If that non-operating revenue fails to manifest in the current year, then there's a real risk the bottom line profit result will be impacted negatively. Sometimes, you can get a better idea of the underlying earnings potential of a company by excluding unusual boosts to non-operating revenue.

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.

How Do Unusual Items Influence Profit?

As well as that spike in non-operating revenue, we should also consider the CHF31m boost to profit coming from unusual items, over the last year. We can't deny that higher profits generally leave us optimistic, but we'd prefer it if the profit were to be sustainable. When we crunched the numbers on thousands of publicly listed companies, we found that a boost from unusual items in a given year is often not repeated the next year. Which is hardly surprising, given the name. We can see that HIAG Immobilien Holding's positive unusual items were quite significant relative to its profit in the year to December 2020. As a result, we can surmise that the unusual items are making its statutory profit significantly stronger than it would otherwise be.

Our Take On HIAG Immobilien Holding's Profit Performance

In its last report HIAG Immobilien Holding benefitted from a spike in non-operating revenue which may have boosted its profit in a way that may be no more sustainable than low quality coal mining. Furthermore, unusual items also made a nice positive contribution to its profit, which may well drop next year (all else being equal) if these phenomena are not repeated. For all the reasons mentioned above, we think that, at a glance, HIAG Immobilien Holding's statutory profits could be considered to be low quality, because they are likely to give investors an overly positive impression of the company. If you'd like to know more about HIAG Immobilien Holding as a business, it's important to be aware of any risks it's facing. Be aware that HIAG Immobilien Holding is showing 5 warning signs in our investment analysis and 2 of those don't sit too well with us...

In this article we've looked at a number of factors that can impair the utility of profit numbers, and we've come away cautious. But there is always more to discover if you are capable of focussing your mind on minutiae. 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. 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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