Are Gold Fields' (JSE:GFI) Statutory Earnings A Good Reflection Of Its Earnings Potential?

Many investors consider it preferable to invest in profitable companies over unprofitable ones, because profitability suggests a business is sustainable. Having said that, sometimes statutory profit levels are not a good guide to ongoing profitability, because some short term one-off factor has impacted profit levels. Today we'll focus on whether this year's statutory profits are a good guide to understanding Gold Fields (JSE:GFI).

It's good to see that over the last twelve months Gold Fields made a profit of US$246.6m on revenue of US$3.34b.

Check out our latest analysis for Gold Fields

Importantly, statutory profits are not always the best tool for understanding a company's true earnings power, so it's well worth examining profits in a little more detail. In this article we will consider how Gold Fields' decision to issue new shares in the company has impacted returns to shareholders. 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.

One essential aspect of assessing earnings quality is to look at how much a company is diluting shareholders. Gold Fields expanded the number of shares on issue by 6.6% over the last year. As a result, its net income is now split between a greater number of shares. To celebrate net income while ignoring dilution is like rejoicing because you have a single slice of a larger pizza, but ignoring the fact that the pizza is now cut into many more slices. Check out Gold Fields' historical EPS growth by clicking on this link.

How Is Dilution Impacting Gold Fields' Earnings Per Share? (EPS)

As it happens, we don't know how much the company made or lost three years ago, because we don't have the data. The good news is that profit was up 176% in the last twelve months. But EPS was less impressive, up only 167% in that time. So you can see that the dilution has had a bit of an impact on shareholders. Therefore, the dilution is having a noteworthy influence on shareholder returns. And so, you can see quite clearly that dilution is influencing shareholder earnings.

Changes in the share price do tend to reflect changes in earnings per share, in the long run. So Gold Fields shareholders will want to see that EPS figure continue to increase. But on the other hand, we'd be far less excited to learn profit (but not EPS) was improving. For the ordinary retail shareholder, EPS is a great measure to check your hypothetical "share" of the company's profit.

Our Take On Gold Fields' Profit Performance

Each Gold Fields share now gets a meaningfully smaller slice of its overall profit, due to dilution of existing shareholders. Therefore, it seems possible to us that Gold Fields' true underlying earnings power is actually less than its statutory profit. 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. Of course, we've only just scratched the surface when it comes to analysing its earnings; one could also consider margins, forecast growth, and return on investment, among other factors. So while earnings quality is important, it's equally important to consider the risks facing Gold Fields at this point in time. For example - Gold Fields has 3 warning signs we think you should be aware of.

Today we've zoomed in on a single data point to better understand the nature of Gold Fields' 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 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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