Yanbu Cement's (TADAWUL:3060) Shareholders Have More To Worry About Than Only Soft Earnings

A lackluster earnings announcement from Yanbu Cement Company (TADAWUL:3060) last week didn't sink the stock price. However, we believe that investors should be aware of some underlying factors which may be of concern.

View our latest analysis for Yanbu Cement

The Impact Of Unusual Items On Profit

Importantly, our data indicates that Yanbu Cement's profit received a boost of ر.س52m in unusual items, over the last year. We can't deny that higher profits generally leave us optimistic, but we'd prefer it if the profit were to be sustainable. We ran the numbers on most publicly listed companies worldwide, and it's very common for unusual items to be once-off in nature. And that's as you'd expect, given these boosts are described as 'unusual'. Yanbu Cement had a rather significant contribution from unusual items relative to its profit to December 2021. All else being equal, this would likely have the effect of making the statutory profit a poor guide to underlying earnings power.

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 Yanbu Cement's Profit Performance

As we discussed above, we think the significant positive unusual item makes Yanbu Cement's earnings a poor guide to its underlying profitability. For this reason, we think that Yanbu Cement'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 on the bright side, its earnings per share have grown at an extremely impressive rate over the last three years. 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. Keep in mind, when it comes to analysing a stock it's worth noting the risks involved. Every company has risks, and we've spotted 3 warning signs for Yanbu Cement (of which 1 makes us a bit uncomfortable!) you should know about.

This note has only looked at a single factor that sheds light on the nature of Yanbu Cement'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. 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.