Earnings Troubles May Signal Larger Issues for Metsä Board Oyj (HEL:METSB) Shareholders

Last week's earnings announcement from Metsä Board Oyj (HEL:METSB) was disappointing to investors, with a sluggish profit figure. We did some further digging and think they have a few more reasons to be concerned beyond the statutory profit.

We've discovered 2 warning signs about Metsä Board Oyj. View them for free.

How Do Unusual Items Influence Profit?

For anyone who wants to understand Metsä Board Oyj's profit beyond the statutory numbers, it's important to note that during the last twelve months statutory profit gained from €13m worth of unusual items. While we like to see profit increases, we tend to be a little more cautious when unusual items have made a big contribution. 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. And that's as you'd expect, given these boosts are described as 'unusual'. We can see that Metsä Board Oyj's positive unusual items were quite significant relative to its profit in the year to March 2025. As a result, we can surmise that the unusual items are making its statutory profit significantly stronger than it would otherwise be.

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.

Our Take On Metsä Board Oyj's Profit Performance

As we discussed above, we think the significant positive unusual item makes Metsä Board Oyj's earnings a poor guide to its underlying profitability. For this reason, we think that Metsä Board Oyj's statutory profits may be a bad guide to its underlying earnings power, and might give investors an overly positive impression of the company. In further bad news, its earnings per share decreased in the last year. At the end of the day, it's essential to consider more than just the factors above, if you want to understand the company properly. If you want to do dive deeper into Metsä Board Oyj, you'd also look into what risks it is currently facing. For example, we've discovered 2 warning signs that you should run your eye over to get a better picture of Metsä Board Oyj.

Today we've zoomed in on a single data point to better understand the nature of Metsä Board Oyj's profit. But there is always more to discover if you are capable of focussing your mind on minutiae. 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 with significant insider holdings to be useful.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. 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.