Amrutanjan Health Care's (NSE:AMRUTANJAN) Profits May Not Reveal Underlying Issues

Amrutanjan Health Care Limited's (NSE:AMRUTANJAN) healthy profit numbers didn't contain any surprises for investors. We believe that shareholders have noticed some concerning factors beyond the statutory profit numbers.

AI is about to change healthcare. These 20 stocks are working on everything from early diagnostics to drug discovery. The best part - they are all under $10bn in marketcap - there is still time to get in early.

A Closer Look At Amrutanjan Health Care's 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. To get the accrual ratio we first subtract FCF from profit for a period, and then divide that number by the average operating assets for the period. This ratio tells us how much of a company's profit is not backed by free cashflow.

As a result, a negative accrual ratio is a positive for the company, and a positive accrual ratio is a negative. While it's not a problem to have a positive accrual ratio, indicating a certain level of non-cash profits, a high accrual ratio is arguably a bad thing, because it indicates paper profits are not matched by cash flow. To quote a 2014 paper by Lewellen and Resutek, "firms with higher accruals tend to be less profitable in the future".

For the year to March 2025, Amrutanjan Health Care had an accrual ratio of 0.22. 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 ₹153m in the last year, which was a lot less than its statutory profit of ₹508.3m. Amrutanjan Health Care's free cash flow actually declined over the last year, but it may bounce back next year, since free cash flow is often more volatile than accounting profits.

Note: we always recommend investors check balance sheet strength. Click here to be taken to our balance sheet analysis of Amrutanjan Health Care.

Our Take On Amrutanjan Health Care's Profit Performance

Amrutanjan Health Care's 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 Amrutanjan Health Care's statutory profits are better than its underlying earnings power. But at least holders can take some solace from the 13% EPS growth in the last year. 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. With this in mind, we wouldn't consider investing in a stock unless we had a thorough understanding of the risks. When we did our research, we found 3 warning signs for Amrutanjan Health Care (2 are significant!) that we believe deserve your full attention.

Today we've zoomed in on a single data point to better understand the nature of Amrutanjan Health Care's profit. But there is always more to discover if you are capable of focussing your mind on minutiae. For example, many people consider a high return on equity as an indication of favorable business economics, while others like to 'follow the money' and search out stocks that insiders are buying. 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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

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.