NWF Group plc (LON:NWF) Just Released Its Full-Year Results And Analysts Are Updating Their Estimates

It's been a good week for NWF Group plc (LON:NWF) shareholders, because the company has just released its latest annual results, and the shares gained 2.1% to UK£1.73. NWF Group reported UK£951m in revenue, roughly in line with analyst forecasts, although statutory earnings per share (EPS) of UK£0.18 beat expectations, being 4.0% higher than what the analysts expected. Earnings are an important time for investors, as they can track a company's performance, look at what the analysts are forecasting for next year, and see if there's been a change in sentiment towards the company. Readers will be glad to know we've aggregated the latest statutory forecasts to see whether the analysts have changed their mind on NWF Group after the latest results.

See our latest analysis for NWF Group

After the latest results, the three analysts covering NWF Group are now predicting revenues of UK£1.01b in 2025. If met, this would reflect a credible 5.8% improvement in revenue compared to the last 12 months. Statutory earnings per share are forecast to reduce 8.2% to UK£0.17 in the same period. In the lead-up to this report, the analysts had been modelling revenues of UK£1.01b and earnings per share (EPS) of UK£0.16 in 2025. The analysts seems to have become more bullish on the business, judging by their new earnings per share estimates.

The consensus price target was unchanged at UK£2.67, implying that the improved earnings outlook is not expected to have a long term impact on value creation for shareholders. The consensus price target is just an average of individual analyst targets, so - it could be handy to see how wide the range of underlying estimates is. There are some variant perceptions on NWF Group, with the most bullish analyst valuing it at UK£2.83 and the most bearish at UK£2.50 per share. Even so, with a relatively close grouping of estimates, it looks like the analysts are quite confident in their valuations, suggesting NWF Group is an easy business to forecast or the the analysts are all using similar assumptions.

Another way we can view these estimates is in the context of the bigger picture, such as how the forecasts stack up against past performance, and whether forecasts are more or less bullish relative to other companies in the industry. It's pretty clear that there is an expectation that NWF Group's revenue growth will slow down substantially, with revenues to the end of 2025 expected to display 5.8% growth on an annualised basis. This is compared to a historical growth rate of 11% over the past five years. By contrast, our data suggests that other companies (with analyst coverage) in a similar industry are forecast to see their revenue shrink 0.4% per year. Factoring in the forecast slowdown in growth, it's pretty clear that NWF Group is still expected to grow faster than the wider industry.

The Bottom Line

The most important thing here is that the analysts upgraded their earnings per share estimates, suggesting that there has been a clear increase in optimism towards NWF Group following these results. On the plus side, they made no changes to their revenue estimates - and they expect it to perform better than the wider industry. The consensus price target held steady at UK£2.67, with the latest estimates not enough to have an impact on their price targets.

With that in mind, we wouldn't be too quick to come to a conclusion on NWF Group. Long-term earnings power is much more important than next year's profits. We have forecasts for NWF Group going out to 2027, and you can see them free on our platform here.

It is also worth noting that we have found 1 warning sign for NWF Group that you need to take into consideration.

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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.

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