Forget EPS accretion and focus on value!

We happened upon a copy of Credit Suisse's "To Buy or Not To Buy" - 26 pages on M&A - a couple of years after it was published (Feb 2017) but found it compelling - particularly in relation to EPS accretion.
  • Three quarters of investor relations professionals surveyed by AT Kearney said stakeholders place a “strong emphasis” EPS accretion or dilution - and that EPS accretion or dilution was deemed to be, by far, the most important metric.
  • Most announced M&A deals today are accretive to the EPS of the buying company.
  • But EPS accretion or dilution actually provides little or no insight because value creation is based on cash flows rather than accounting measures - and the cost of capital rather than the funding source.
Credit Suisse took a sample of 95 of the M&A deals, categorised them based on whether the company said it would be immediately accretive or dilutive to EPS, then reviewed the one-day abnormal return for the buyer on the day of the announcement . 

The table below shows that:
  • Roughly three-fourths of the deals had a neutral or negative impact on shareholder value.
  • The bottom row reveals that 27 percent of the deals in this sample created shareholder value.
  • The box in the upper right corner shows that almost half of the deals add to EPS but subtract from value!

Popular posts from this blog

10k Words | August 2022

Feel the Cash Burn as Profit Season Closes (or "In memory of Pocketmail")

Where was the EPS uplift?

Disclaimer

Nothing in this blog constitutes investment advice - or advice in any other field. Neither the information, commentary or any opinion contained in this blog constitutes a solicitation or offer by Equitable Investors Pty Ltd (Equitable Investors) or its affiliates to buy or sell any securities or other financial instruments. Nor shall any such security be offered or sold to any person in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation, purchase, or sale would be unlawful under the securities laws of such jurisdiction.

The content of this blog should not be relied upon in making investment decisions.Any decisions based on information contained on this blog are the sole responsibility of the visitor. In exchange for using this blog, the visitor agree to indemnify Equitable Investors and hold Equitable Investors, its officers, directors, employees, affiliates, agents, licensors and suppliers harmless against any and all claims, losses, liability, costs and expenses (including but not limited to legal fees) arising from your use of this blog, from your violation of these Terms or from any decisions that the visitor makes based on such information.

This blog is for information purposes only and is not intended to be relied upon as a forecast, research or investment advice. The information on this blog does not constitute a recommendation, offer or solicitation to buy or sell any securities or to adopt any investment strategy. Although this material is based upon information that Equitable Investors considers reliable and endeavours to keep current, Equitable Investors does not assure that this material is accurate, current or complete, and it should not be relied upon as such. Any opinions expressed on this blog may change as subsequent conditions vary.

Equitable Investors does not warrant, either expressly or implied, the accuracy or completeness of the information, text, graphics, links or other items contained on this blog and does not warrant that the functions contained in this blog will be uninterrupted or error-free, that defects will be corrected, or that the blog will be free of viruses or other harmful components.Equitable Investors expressly disclaims all liability for errors and omissions in the materials on this blog and for the use or interpretation by others of information contained on the blog.