Fortnox's (NGM:FNOX) Earnings Are Growing But Is There More To The Story?
Broadly speaking, profitable businesses are less risky than unprofitable ones. That said, the current statutory profit is not always a good guide to a company's underlying profitability. Today we'll focus on whether this year's statutory profits are a good guide to understanding Fortnox (NGM:FNOX).
It's good to see that over the last twelve months Fortnox made a profit of kr188.7m on revenue of kr682.2m. One positive is that it has grown both its profit and its revenue, over the last few years.
View our latest analysis for Fortnox
Of course, it is only sensible to look beyond the statutory profits and question how well those numbers represent the sustainable earnings power of the business. As a result, we think it's well worth considering what Fortnox's cashflow (when compared to its earnings) can tell us about the nature of its statutory profit. 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.
A Closer Look At Fortnox's 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 September 2020, Fortnox recorded an accrual ratio of 0.59. Ergo, its free cash flow is significantly weaker than its profit. As a general rule, that bodes poorly for future profitability. Indeed, in the last twelve months it reported free cash flow of kr158m, which is significantly less than its profit of kr188.7m. At this point we should mention that Fortnox did manage to increase its free cash flow in the last twelve months
Our Take On Fortnox's Profit Performance
As we discussed above, we think Fortnox's earnings were not supported by free cash flow, which might concern some investors. For this reason, we think that Fortnox'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 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. If you'd like to know more about Fortnox as a business, it's important to be aware of any risks it's facing. Case in point: We've spotted 2 warning signs for Fortnox you should be mindful of and 1 of them is significant.
This note has only looked at a single factor that sheds light on the nature of Fortnox's profit. But there is always more to discover if you are capable of focussing your mind on minutiae. 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. 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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About OM:FNOX
Fortnox
Provides products, packages, and integrations for financial and administration applications in small and medium sized businesses, accounting firms, and organizations.
Outstanding track record with flawless balance sheet.