WasteCo Group (NZSE:WCO) Earnings Power Value (EPV): NZ$-0.06 (As of Mar26)


What is WasteCo Group Earnings Power Value (EPV)?

WasteCo Group NZSE:WCO Earnings Power Value (EPV) is NZ$-0.06 as of Mar26. The stock has 5 warning signs investors should review.

As of Mar26, WasteCo Group's earnings power value is NZ$-0.06. *

* GuruFocus does not store EPV value into our database if Average Maintenance CAPEX is 0.

Margin of Safety is N/A.

The basic concept of EPV is that one should value a stock based on the current free cash flow of a company and not on future projections which may, or may not, come true. It is arguably a better way to analyze stocks than Discounted Cash Flow analysis that relies on highly speculative growth assumptions many years into the future. Assumption: Current profitability is sustainable.


WasteCo Group  (NZSE:WCO) Earnings Power Value (EPV) Explanation

Assumption: Current profitability is sustainable.

Earnings power value (EPV) uses a very basic equation which assumes no growth, although it does rely on an assumption about the cost of capital as well as the fact that current earnings are sustainable. It also involves several adjustments to clean up the underlying Earnings figures.


Be Aware

Though using today's earnings in calculating Earnings Power Value, GuruFocus is normalizing these earnings to the business cycle. This eliminates the effects on profitability of valuing the firm at different points in the business cycle. This means that we are considering the average earnings over 5 years.


WasteCo Group Earnings Power Value (EPV) Related Terms


WasteCo Group Earnings Power Value (EPV) Historical Data

* Premium members only.

The historical data trend for WasteCo Group's Earnings Power Value (EPV) can be seen below:

* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD.
* For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.

WasteCo Group Earnings Power Value (EPV) Chart

WasteCo Group Annual Data
Trend Mar16 Mar17 Mar18 Mar20 Mar21 Mar22 Mar23 Mar24 Mar25 Mar26
Earnings Power Value (EPV)
Get a 7-Day Free Trial Premium Member Only Premium Member Only 0.42 -0.20 -0.12 -0.08 -0.06

WasteCo Group Semi-Annual Data
Mar15 Sep15 Mar16 Sep16 Mar17 Sep17 Mar18 Mar20 Sep20 Mar21 Sep21 Mar22 Sep22 Mar23 Sep23 Mar24 Sep24 Mar25 Sep25 Mar26
Earnings Power Value (EPV) Get a 7-Day Free Trial Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only -0.12 0.00 -0.08 0.00 -0.06

NZSE:WCO vs WM, RSG, WCN: Earnings Power Value (EPV) Comparison

For the Waste Management subindustry, WasteCo Group's Earnings Power Value (EPV), along with its competitors' market caps and Earnings Power Value (EPV) data, can be viewed below:

* Competitive companies are chosen from companies within the same industry, with headquarter located in same country, with closest market capitalization; x-axis shows the market cap, and y-axis shows the term value; the bigger the dot, the larger the market cap. Note that "N/A" values will not show up in the chart.


WasteCo Group Earnings Power Value (EPV) vs Waste Management Industry

For the Waste Management industry and Industrials sector, WasteCo Group's Earnings Power Value (EPV) distribution charts can be found below:

* The bar in red indicates where WasteCo Group's Earnings Power Value (EPV) falls into.



WasteCo Group Earnings Power Value (EPV) Calculation

Earnings Power Value also known as just Earnings Power is a valuation technique popularised by Bruce Greenwald, an authority on value investing at Columbia University. It is arguably a better way to analyze stocks than Discounted Cash Flow analysis that relies on highly speculative growth assumptions many years into the future.

The basic concept of EPV is that one should value a stock based on the current free cash flow of a company and not on future projections which may, or may not, come true. This valuation tool excludes the potential growth that a company may have so that needs to be looked at separately. Since future growth is excluded from the analysis, only the maintenance capital expenditures are subtracted from after-tax EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) and growth capex is ignored.

WasteCo Group's "Earning Power" Calculation:

Average of Last 5 Years Last Year
Revenue 41.85
DDA 5.63
Operating Margin % -4.38
SGA * 25% 4.71
Tax Rate % 10.21
Maintenance Capex 3.77
Cash and Cash Equivalents 1.16
Short-Term Debt 29.91
Long-Term Debt 28.17
Shares Outstanding (Diluted) 1,098.37

1. Start with "Earnings" not including accounting adjustments (one-time charges not excluded unless policy has changed). "Earnings" are "Operating Income.

2. Look at average margins over a business/Industry cycle: Average Operating Margin = -4.38%

To normalize margins and eliminate the effects on profitability of valuing the firm at different points in the business cycle, it is usually best to take a long-term average of operating margins. Ideally this would be as long as 10 years and include at least one economic downturn. However, since most of companies do not have as long as 10-year history, here GuruFocus uses the latest 5 years data to do the calculation. To smooth out unusual years but reflect recent developments, we take an average of the 5 year margin.

3. Multiply average margins by sustainable revenues and then adjust for maintenance SGA. This yields "normalized" EBIT:

To be conservative, GuruFocus uses an average of the 5 year revenues as the sustainable revenue.
EPV analysis recognises that part of SG&A expenditure is made to maintain and replace the existing assets, while part is made to grow sales. Since EPV is only interested in what it costs a going concern to maintain its existing asset base, it adds back a percentage of SG&A (between 15% and 50% - this is a matter of judgment and industry knowledge) to make up for the fact that some of this expenditure went to fund growth and shouldn't be accounted for. To start off, we assume 25% for the sake of prudence.
Sustainable Revenue = NZ$41.85 Mil, Average Operating Margin = -4.38%, Average Adjusted SGA = 4.71,
therefore "Normalized" EBIT = Sustainable Revenue * Average Operating Margin + Average Adjusted SGA = 41.85 * -4.38% +4.71 = NZ$2.882298244 Mil.

4. Multiply by one minus Average Tax Rate (NOPAT):

Same as average operating margin calculation, GuruFocus takes an average of the 5 years tax rates.
Average Tax Rate = 10.21%, and "Normalized" EBIT = NZ$2.882298244 Mil,
therefore After-tax "Normalized" EBIT = "Normalized" EBIT * ( 1 - Average Tax Rate ) = 2.882298244 * ( 1 - 10.21% ) = NZ$2.5881308852174 Mil.

5. Add back Excess Depreciation (after tax at 1/2 average tax rate). This yields "normalized" Earnings:

Excess Depreciation = Average DDA * % of Excess Depreciation (after tax at 1/2 average tax rate) = 5.63 * 0.5 * 10.21% = NZ$0.287441784 Mil.
"Normalized" Earnings = After-tax "Normalized" EBIT + Excess Depreciation = 2.5881308852174 + 0.287441784 = NZ$2.8755726692174 Mil.

6. Adjusted for Maintenance Capital Expenditure:

First, calculate the revenue change regarding to the previous year. If the revenue decreased from the previous year, then the Maintenance Capital Expenditure = Capital Expenditure (positive).
Second, if the revenue increased from the previous year, then calculate the percentage of Net PPE as of corresponding Revenue.
Third, calculate Capital Expenditure (positive) - percentage of Net PPE as of corresponding Revenue * revenue increase.
If [Capital Expenditure (positive) - percentage of Net PPE as of corresponding Revenue * revenue increase] was negative, then the Maintenance Capital Expenditure = Capital Expenditure (positive).
If [Capital Expenditure (positive) - percentage of Net PPE as of corresponding Revenue * revenue increase] was positive, then the Maintenance Capital Expenditure = Capital Expenditure (positive) - percentage of Net PPE as of corresponding Revenue * revenue increase.
Fourth, GuruFocus uses an average of the 5 year maintenance capital expenditures as maintenance CAPEX.
WasteCo Group's Average Maintenance CAPEX = NZ$3.77 Mil *.
* GuruFocus does not store EPV value into our database if Average Maintenance CAPEX is 0.

7. Investors require a return of "WACC" for the risk they are taking: WACC = 9%

8. WasteCo Group's current cash and cash equivalent = NZ$1.16 Mil.
WasteCo Group's current interest bearing debt = Long-Term Debt & Capital Lease Obligation + Short-Term Debt & Capital Lease Obligation = 28.17 + 29.91 = NZ$58.084 Mil.
WasteCo Group's current Shares Outstanding (Diluted Average) = 1,098.37 Mil.

WasteCo Group's Earnings Power Value (EPV) for Mar26 is calculated as:

EPV = ( ( Norm. Earnings-Maint. CAPEX *) / WACC + CashandEquiv - Int. Bearing Debt ) / Shares Outstanding (Diluted Average)
= ( ( 2.8755726692174 - 3.77)/ 9%+1.16-58.084 )/1,098.37
=-0.06

Margin of Safety (EPV)=( Earnings Power Value (EPV)-Current Price )/Earnings Power Value (EPV)
=( -0.060852403517472-0.008 )/-0.060852403517472
= N/A

* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD.
* For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.

* GuruFocus does not store EPV value into our database if Average Maintenance CAPEX is 0.

What does a Earnings Power Value (EPV) of NZ$-0.06 mean?
WasteCo Group (NZSE:WCO) has a Earnings Power Value (EPV) of NZ$-0.06 as of Mar26. Bruce Greenwald's earnings power value focuses on current earnings without factoring in future growth. View historical data on WasteCo Group and its competitors.
Is WasteCo Group's Earnings Power Value (EPV) too high?
WasteCo Group's current Earnings Power Value (EPV) is NZ$-0.06.
How does WasteCo Group's Earnings Power Value (EPV) compare to WM and RSG?
WasteCo Group's Earnings Power Value (EPV) of NZ$-0.06 can be compared against companies in the Waste Management industry. See the competitive comparison table and distribution chart on this page for a detailed peer-by-peer breakdown.
What is a good Earnings Power Value (EPV) for a Waste Management company?
A good Earnings Power Value (EPV) depends on the Waste Management industry context. However, Earnings Power Value (EPV) should not be evaluated in isolation — investors should consider it alongside profitability, growth, and financial strength metrics. Use the industry distribution chart on this page to see where any company falls relative to its peers.
What does a high Earnings Power Value (EPV) mean?
A high Earnings Power Value (EPV) can signal that a stock is expensive relative to its fundamentals. Bruce Greenwald's earnings power value focuses on current earnings without factoring in future growth. View historical data on WasteCo Group and its competitors. WasteCo Group's current Earnings Power Value (EPV) is NZ$-0.06. However, context matters — high-growth companies often justify higher valuations. Always evaluate alongside other metrics like GF Score™ and GF Value™.
Is WasteCo Group stock overvalued right now?
Based on GuruFocus' analysis, WasteCo Group (NZSE:WCO) is currently considered Possible Value Trap. The stock's GF Value™ is NZ$0.03, compared to a current price of NZ$0.01 — trading 73.3% below its estimated fair value. The current Earnings Power Value (EPV) is NZ$-0.06. Investors should evaluate multiple metrics — including profitability, growth, and financial strength — before making a decision.
How is Earnings Power Value (EPV) calculated?
Earnings Power Value (EPV) is calculated from a company's financial statements. For WasteCo Group (NZSE:WCO), the current Earnings Power Value (EPV) is NZ$-0.06 as of Mar26. GuruFocus calculates this using data sourced from SEC filings and annual reports. See the calculation section and 30-year financial data on this page for the full breakdown.

WasteCo Group Business Description

Address 421 Blenheim Road, Upper Riccarton, Christchurch, NZL, 8041
WasteCo Group Ltd provides solutions in the collection of waste and recycling, sweeping services, and industrial cleaning services, with waste and recycling generating maximum revenue. The Group is a waste management provider committed to smarter, safer and more sustainable waste solutions. Its services are provided across the residential, commercial and council sectors and include wheelie bins, skip hire, water delivery, septic tank cleaning and hydrovac services.