Allegro.eu's (WSE:ALE) Robust Earnings Are Supported By Other Strong Factors

Allegro.eu SA's (WSE:ALE) strong earnings report was rewarded with a positive stock price move. We have done some analysis, and we found several positive factors beyond the profit numbers.

Check out our latest analysis for Allegro.eu

A Closer Look At Allegro.eu's Earnings

In high finance, the key ratio used to measure how well a company converts reported profits into free cash flow (FCF) is the accrual ratio (from cashflow). 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.

That means a negative accrual ratio is a good thing, because it shows that the company is bringing in more free cash flow than its profit would suggest. That is not intended to imply we should worry about a positive accrual ratio, but it's worth noting where the accrual ratio is rather high. 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 2021, Allegro.eu had an accrual ratio of -0.10. That indicates that its free cash flow was a fair bit more than its statutory profit. Indeed, in the last twelve months it reported free cash flow of zł1.4b, well over the zł80.1m it reported in profit. Allegro.eu shareholders are no doubt pleased that free cash flow improved over the last twelve months.

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 Allegro.eu's Profit Performance

As we discussed above, Allegro.eu has perfectly satisfactory free cash flow relative to profit. Based on this observation, we consider it likely that Allegro.eu's statutory profit actually understates its earnings potential! And one can definitely find a positive in the fact that it made a profit this year, despite losing money 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. With this in mind, we wouldn't consider investing in a stock unless we had a thorough understanding of the risks. While conducting our analysis, we found that Allegro.eu has 1 warning sign and it would be unwise to ignore this.

This note has only looked at a single factor that sheds light on the nature of Allegro.eu'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 that insiders are buying to be useful.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. 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.
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