Investors Shouldn't Be Too Comfortable With Motor Oil (Hellas) Corinth Refineries' (ATH:MOH) Robust Earnings

Motor Oil (Hellas) Corinth Refineries S.A.'s (ATH:MOH) robust earnings report didn't manage to move the market for its stock. We did some digging, and we found some concerning factors in the details.

Check out the opportunities and risks within the XX Oil and Gas industry.

Examining Cashflow Against Motor Oil (Hellas) Corinth Refineries' 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. The accrual ratio subtracts the FCF from the profit for a given period, and divides the result by the average operating assets of the company over that time. 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. Notably, there is some academic evidence that suggests that a high accrual ratio is a bad sign for near-term profits, generally speaking.

For the year to September 2022, Motor Oil (Hellas) Corinth Refineries had an accrual ratio of 0.25. 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 €271m in the last year, which was a lot less than its statutory profit of €1.00b. Notably, Motor Oil (Hellas) Corinth Refineries had negative free cash flow last year, so the €271m it produced this year was a welcome improvement.

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 Motor Oil (Hellas) Corinth Refineries' Profit Performance

Motor Oil (Hellas) Corinth Refineries' accrual ratio for the last twelve months signifies cash conversion is less than ideal, which is a negative when it comes to our view of its earnings. Because of this, we think that it may be that Motor Oil (Hellas) Corinth Refineries' statutory profits are better than its underlying earnings power. But the happy news is that, while acknowledging we have to look beyond the statutory numbers, those numbers are still improving, with EPS growing at a very high rate over 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. 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. Case in point: We've spotted 4 warning signs for Motor Oil (Hellas) Corinth Refineries you should be mindful of and 2 of them don't sit too well with us.

Today we've zoomed in on a single data point to better understand the nature of Motor Oil (Hellas) Corinth Refineries' profit. 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. 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. 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.