Earnings Troubles May Signal Larger Issues for China Railway Signal & Communication (HKG:3969) Shareholders

The market wasn't impressed with the soft earnings from China Railway Signal & Communication Corporation Limited (HKG:3969) recently. We did some further digging and think they have a few more reasons to be concerned beyond the statutory profit.

Check out our latest analysis for China Railway Signal & Communication

The Impact Of Unusual Items On Profit

Importantly, our data indicates that China Railway Signal & Communication's profit received a boost of CN¥291m in unusual items, over the last year. 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 analysed the vast majority of listed companies worldwide, we found that significant unusual items are often not repeated. And that's as you'd expect, given these boosts are described as 'unusual'. Assuming those unusual items don't show up again in the current year, we'd thus expect profit to be weaker next year (in the absence of business growth, that is).

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 China Railway Signal & Communication's Profit Performance

We'd posit that China Railway Signal & Communication's statutory earnings aren't a clean read on ongoing productivity, due to the large unusual item. Because of this, we think that it may be that China Railway Signal & Communication's statutory profits are better than its underlying earnings power. Sadly, its EPS was down over the last twelve months. Of course, we've only just scratched the surface when it comes to analysing its earnings; one could also consider margins, forecast growth, and return on investment, among other factors. Keep in mind, when it comes to analysing a stock it's worth noting the risks involved. While conducting our analysis, we found that China Railway Signal & Communication has 1 warning sign and it would be unwise to ignore it.

Today we've zoomed in on a single data point to better understand the nature of China Railway Signal & Communication's 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 with high insider ownership.

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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.