Why Hulamin's (JSE:HLM) Shaky Earnings Are Just The Beginning Of Its Problems

The market wasn't impressed with the soft earnings from Hulamin Limited (JSE:HLM) recently. Our analysis has found some reasons to be concerned, beyond the weak headline numbers.

The Impact Of Unusual Items On Profit

Importantly, our data indicates that Hulamin's profit received a boost of R131m in unusual items, over the last year. While we like to see profit increases, we tend to be a little more cautious when unusual items have made a big contribution. When we crunched the numbers on thousands of publicly listed companies, we found that a boost from unusual items in a given year is often not repeated the next year. Which is hardly surprising, given the name. We can see that Hulamin's positive unusual items were quite significant relative to its profit in the year to December 2024. All else being equal, this would likely have the effect of making the statutory profit a poor guide to underlying earnings power.

Note: we always recommend investors check balance sheet strength. Click here to be taken to our balance sheet analysis of Hulamin.

Our Take On Hulamin's Profit Performance

As we discussed above, we think the significant positive unusual item makes Hulamin's earnings a poor guide to its underlying profitability. For this reason, we think that Hulamin's statutory profits may be a bad guide to its underlying earnings power, and might give investors an overly positive impression of the company. In further bad news, its earnings per share decreased in the last year. 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. So if you'd like to dive deeper into this stock, it's crucial to consider any risks it's facing. Every company has risks, and we've spotted 3 warning signs for Hulamin (of which 1 is a bit unpleasant!) you should know about.

Today we've zoomed in on a single data point to better understand the nature of Hulamin's profit. But there are plenty of other ways to inform your opinion of a company. Some people consider a high return on equity to be a good sign of a quality business. 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 with significant insider holdings to be useful.

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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.