We Think That There Are Issues Underlying Silver Touch Technologies' (NSE:SILVERTUC) Earnings

Silver Touch Technologies Limited's (NSE:SILVERTUC) stock was strong after they recently reported robust earnings. However, our analysis suggests that shareholders may be missing some factors that indicate the earnings result was not as good as it looked.

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A Closer Look At Silver Touch Technologies' Earnings

Many investors haven't heard of the accrual ratio from cashflow, but it is actually a useful measure of how well a company's profit is backed up by free cash flow (FCF) during a given period. 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. 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".

Over the twelve months to March 2025, Silver Touch Technologies recorded an accrual ratio of 0.33. Unfortunately, that means its free cash flow was a lot less than its statutory profit, which makes us doubt the utility of profit as a guide. Over the last year it actually had negative free cash flow of ₹236m, in contrast to the aforementioned profit of ₹222.0m. We also note that Silver Touch Technologies' free cash flow was actually negative last year as well, so we could understand if shareholders were bothered by its outflow of ₹236m.

Note: we always recommend investors check balance sheet strength. Click here to be taken to our balance sheet analysis of Silver Touch Technologies.

Our Take On Silver Touch Technologies' Profit Performance

As we have made quite clear, we're a bit worried that Silver Touch Technologies didn't back up the last year's profit with free cashflow. For this reason, we think that Silver Touch Technologies' statutory profits may be a bad guide to its underlying earnings power, and might give investors an overly positive impression of the company. But the good news is that its EPS growth over the last three years has been very impressive. 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. 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. At Simply Wall St, we found 1 warning sign for Silver Touch Technologies and we think they deserve your attention.

Today we've zoomed in on a single data point to better understand the nature of Silver Touch Technologies' 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. 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.

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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.