Why Agro Tech Foods' (NSE:ATFL) Shaky Earnings Are Just The Beginning Of Its Problems

The subdued market reaction suggests that Agro Tech Foods Limited's (NSE:ATFL) recent earnings didn't contain any surprises. Our analysis suggests that along with soft profit numbers, investors should be aware of some other underlying weaknesses in the numbers.

See our latest analysis for Agro Tech Foods

How Do Unusual Items Influence Profit?

For anyone who wants to understand Agro Tech Foods' profit beyond the statutory numbers, it's important to note that during the last twelve months statutory profit gained from ₹27m worth of unusual items. While it's always nice to have higher profit, a large contribution from unusual items sometimes dampens our enthusiasm. 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'. If Agro Tech Foods doesn't see that contribution repeat, then all else being equal we'd expect its profit to drop over the current year.

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 Agro Tech Foods' Profit Performance

Arguably, Agro Tech Foods' statutory earnings have been distorted by unusual items boosting profit. Because of this, we think that it may be that Agro Tech Foods' statutory profits are better than its underlying earnings power. In further bad news, its earnings per share decreased in the last year. The goal of this article has been to assess how well we can rely on the statutory earnings to reflect the company's potential, but there is plenty more to consider. If you'd like to know more about Agro Tech Foods as a business, it's important to be aware of any risks it's facing. You'd be interested to know, that we found 3 warning signs for Agro Tech Foods and you'll want to know about these.

This note has only looked at a single factor that sheds light on the nature of Agro Tech Foods' 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. 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.