Despite posting healthy earnings, China National Gold Group Gold Jewellery Co.,Ltd.'s (SHSE:600916 ) stock has been quite weak. We have done some analysis, and found some encouraging factors that we believe the shareholders should consider.

Zooming In On China National Gold Group Gold JewelleryLtd's Earnings

As finance nerds would already know, the accrual ratio from cashflow is a key measure for assessing how well a company's free cash flow (FCF) matches its profit. In plain english, this ratio subtracts FCF from net profit, and divides that number by the company's average operating assets over that 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. While having an accrual ratio above zero is of little concern, we do think it's worth noting when a company has a relatively high accrual ratio. Notably, there is some academic evidence that suggests that a high accrual ratio is a bad sign for near-term profits, generally speaking.

Over the twelve months to June 2024, China National Gold Group Gold JewelleryLtd recorded an accrual ratio of -0.86. That implies it has very good cash conversion, and that its earnings in the last year actually significantly understate its free cash flow. To wit, it produced free cash flow of CN¥3.7b during the period, dwarfing its reported profit of CN¥1.03b. China National Gold Group Gold JewelleryLtd shareholders are no doubt pleased that free cash flow improved over the last twelve months. Having said that, there is more to the story. We can see that unusual items have impacted its statutory profit, and therefore the accrual ratio.

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.

How Do Unusual Items Influence Profit?

China National Gold Group Gold JewelleryLtd's profit was reduced by unusual items worth CN¥462m in the last twelve months, and this helped it produce high cash conversion, as reflected by its unusual items. This is what you'd expect to see where a company has a non-cash charge reducing paper profits. While deductions due to unusual items are disappointing in the first instance, there is a silver lining. We looked at thousands of listed companies and found that unusual items are very often one-off in nature. And, after all, that's exactly what the accounting terminology implies. Assuming those unusual expenses don't come up again, we'd therefore expect China National Gold Group Gold JewelleryLtd to produce a higher profit next year, all else being equal.

Our Take On China National Gold Group Gold JewelleryLtd's Profit Performance

In conclusion, both China National Gold Group Gold JewelleryLtd's accrual ratio and its unusual items suggest that its statutory earnings are probably reasonably conservative. After considering all this, we reckon China National Gold Group Gold JewelleryLtd's statutory profit probably understates its earnings potential! 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. While conducting our analysis, we found that China National Gold Group Gold JewelleryLtd has 2 warning signs and it would be unwise to ignore them.

After our examination into the nature of China National Gold Group Gold JewelleryLtd's profit, we've come away optimistic for the company. 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. 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.