Alkhorayef Water and Power Technologies' (TADAWUL:2081) Promising Earnings May Rest On Soft Foundations

Alkhorayef Water and Power Technologies Company's (TADAWUL:2081) robust earnings report didn't manage to move the market for its stock. Our analysis suggests that shareholders have noticed something concerning in the numbers.

We've discovered 2 warning signs about Alkhorayef Water and Power Technologies. View them for free.

Examining Cashflow Against Alkhorayef Water and Power Technologies' Earnings

One key financial ratio used to measure how well a company converts its profit to free cash flow (FCF) is the accrual ratio. 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. The ratio shows us how much a company's profit exceeds its FCF.

As a result, a negative accrual ratio is a positive for the company, and a positive accrual ratio is a negative. 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".

Over the twelve months to March 2025, Alkhorayef Water and Power Technologies recorded an accrual ratio of 0.44. As a general rule, that bodes poorly for future profitability. To wit, the company did not generate one whit of free cashflow in that time. Over the last year it actually had negative free cash flow of ر.س221m, in contrast to the aforementioned profit of ر.س245.1m. We saw that FCF was ر.س81m a year ago though, so Alkhorayef Water and Power Technologies has at least been able to generate positive FCF in the past.

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 Alkhorayef Water and Power Technologies' Profit Performance

As we have made quite clear, we're a bit worried that Alkhorayef Water and Power Technologies didn't back up the last year's profit with free cashflow. For this reason, we think that Alkhorayef Water and Power 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. 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. 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. For example, we've discovered 2 warning signs that you should run your eye over to get a better picture of Alkhorayef Water and Power Technologies.

This note has only looked at a single factor that sheds light on the nature of Alkhorayef Water and Power 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. So you may wish to see this free collection of companies boasting high return on equity, or this list of stocks with high insider ownership.

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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.