Food Empire Holdings Limited Just Released Its Yearly Earnings: Here's What Analysts Think

Last week, you might have seen that Food Empire Holdings Limited (SGX:F03) released its annual result to the market. The early response was not positive, with shares down 4.7% to S$0.71 in the past week. Food Empire Holdings reported US$289m in revenue, roughly in line with analyst forecasts, although statutory earnings per share (EPS) of US$0.05 beat expectations, being 2.8% higher than what analysts expected. Following the result, analysts have updated their earnings model, and it would be good to know whether they think there's been a strong change in the company's prospects, or if it's business as usual. Readers will be glad to know we've aggregated the latest statutory forecasts to see whether analysts have changed their mind on Food Empire Holdings after the latest results.

View our latest analysis for Food Empire Holdings

Following the latest results, Food Empire Holdings's dual analysts are now forecasting revenues of US$307.8m in 2020. This would be a satisfactory 6.7% improvement in sales compared to the last 12 months. Statutory earnings per share are expected to rise 5.6% to US$0.052. Before this earnings report, analysts had been forecasting revenues of US$297.9m and earnings per share (EPS) of US$0.053 in 2020. Overall it looks as though analysts were a bit mixed on the latest results. Although there was a a satisfactory to revenue, the consensus also made a small dip in to its earnings per share forecasts.

The consensus price target was unchanged at S$0.90, suggesting the business is performing roughly in line with expectations, despite some adjustments to profit and revenue forecasts.

Another way to assess these estimates is by comparing them to past performance, and seeing whether analysts are more or less bullish relative to other companies in the market. Analysts are definitely expecting Food Empire Holdings's growth to accelerate, with the forecast 6.7% growth ranking favourably alongside historical growth of 5.1% per annum over the past five years. Compare this with other companies in the same market, which are forecast to see a revenue decline of 8.7% next year. So it's clear that despite the acceleration in growth, Food Empire Holdings is expected to grow meaningfully slower than the market average.

The Bottom Line

The most important thing to take away is that analysts downgraded their earnings per share estimates, showing that there has been a clear decline in sentiment following these results. Fortunately, analysts also upgraded their revenue estimates, although our data indicates sales are expected to perform worse than the wider market. There was no real change to the consensus price target, suggesting that the intrinsic value of the business has not undergone any major changes with the latest estimates.

Even so, the longer term trajectory of the business is much more important for the value creation of shareholders. At least one analyst has provided forecasts out to 2022, which can be seen for free on our platform here.

You can also see our analysis of Food Empire Holdings's Board and CEO remuneration and experience, and whether company insiders have been buying stock.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. 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. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.

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