Scatec's (OB:SCATC) Profits May Not Reveal Underlying Issues

Scatec ASA's (OB:SCATC) robust recent earnings didn't do much to move the stock. We think this is due to investors looking beyond the statutory profits and being concerned with what they see.

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How Do Unusual Items Influence Profit?

For anyone who wants to understand Scatec's profit beyond the statutory numbers, it's important to note that during the last twelve months statutory profit gained from kr2.0b 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 analysed the vast majority of listed companies worldwide, we found that significant unusual items are often not repeated. Which is hardly surprising, given the name. We can see that Scatec's positive unusual items were quite significant relative to its profit in the year to June 2025. As a result, we can surmise that the unusual items are making its statutory profit significantly stronger than it would otherwise be.

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 Scatec's Profit Performance

As previously mentioned, Scatec's large boost from unusual items won't be there indefinitely, so its statutory earnings are probably a poor guide to its underlying profitability. For this reason, we think that Scatec's 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 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. With this in mind, we wouldn't consider investing in a stock unless we had a thorough understanding of the risks. Case in point: We've spotted 3 warning signs for Scatec you should be mindful of and 2 of these bad boys can't be ignored.

Today we've zoomed in on a single data point to better understand the nature of Scatec's profit. But there are plenty of other ways to inform your opinion of a company. 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.

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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.