KAL Group (JSE:KAL) Beneish M-Score: -2.85 (As of Aug. 22, 2026)

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JSE:KAL KAL Group Ltd JSE:KAL
92 GF Score
Price R50.00
GF Value R43.66
Valuation Modestly Overvalued
! 5 Warning Signs
View Full Analysis

What is KAL Group Beneish M-Score?

KAL Group JSE:KAL 92 Beneish M-Score is -2.85 as of Aug. 22, 2026. GuruFocus rates JSE:KAL with a GF Score™ of 92/100 and a GF Value™ of R43.66 (Modestly Overvalued). The stock has 5 warning signs investors should review. Among 1,093 Retail - Cyclical companies, KAL Group ranks better than 71.18% on this metric.

The zones of discrimination for M-Score is as such:

An M-Score of equal or less than -1.78 suggests that the company is unlikely to be a manipulator.
An M-Score of greater than -1.78 signals that the company is likely to be a manipulator.

Good Sign:

Beneish M-Score -2.85 no higher than -1.78, which implies that the company is unlikely to be a manipulator.

The historical rank and industry rank for KAL Group's Beneish M-Score or its related term are showing as below:

JSE:KAL' s Beneish M-Score Range Over the Past 10 Years
Min: -2.85   Med: -2.37   Max: -1.66
Current: -2.85

During the past 12 years, the highest Beneish M-Score of KAL Group was -1.66. The lowest was -2.85. And the median was -2.37.


KAL Group Beneish M-Score Historical Data

* Premium members only.

The historical data trend for KAL Group's Beneish M-Score 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.

KAL Group Beneish M-Score Chart

KAL Group Annual Data
Trend Sep16 Sep17 Sep18 Sep19 Sep20 Sep21 Sep22 Sep23 Sep24 Sep25
Beneish M-Score
Get a 7-Day Free Trial Premium Member Only Premium Member Only -2.40 -1.66 -2.62 -2.81 -2.85

KAL Group Semi-Annual Data
Sep16 Mar17 Sep17 Mar18 Sep18 Mar19 Sep19 Mar20 Sep20 Mar21 Sep21 Mar22 Sep22 Mar23 Sep23 Mar24 Sep24 Mar25 Sep25 Mar26
Beneish M-Score 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 0.00 -2.81 0.00 -2.85 0.00

JSE:KAL vs CASY, WSM, ULTA: Beneish M-Score Comparison

For the Specialty Retail subindustry, KAL Group's Beneish M-Score, along with its competitors' market caps and Beneish M-Score 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.


KAL Group Beneish M-Score vs Retail - Cyclical Industry

For the Retail - Cyclical industry and Consumer Cyclical sector, KAL Group's Beneish M-Score distribution charts can be found below:

* The bar in red indicates where KAL Group's Beneish M-Score falls into.


JSE:KAL
92GF Score
KAL Group Ltd JSE:KAL
Beneish M-Score is just one metric. See GF Score™, valuation, warning signs, and more.
View Full Analysis

KAL Group Beneish M-Score Calculation

The M-score was created by Professor Messod Beneish. Instead of measuring the bankruptcy risk (Altman Z-Score) or business trend (Piotroski F-Score), M-score can be used to detect the risk of earnings manipulation. This is the original research paper on M-score.

The M-Score Variables:

The M-score of KAL Group for today is based on a combination of the following eight different indices:

M=-4.84+0.92 * DSRI+0.528 * GMI+0.404 * AQI+0.892 * SGI+0.115 * DEPI
=-4.84+0.92 * 1.0875+0.528 * 0.8989+0.404 * 1.0688+0.892 * 0.9342+0.115 * 0.9427
-0.172 * SGAI+4.679 * TATA-0.327 * LVGI
-0.172 * 1.1149+4.679 * -0.076405-0.327 * 0.9548
=-2.85

* 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.

This Year (Sep25) TTM:Last Year (Sep24) TTM:
Total Receivables was R2,500 Mil.
Revenue was R20,305 Mil.
Gross Profit was R3,090 Mil.
Total Current Assets was R4,330 Mil.
Total Assets was R8,230 Mil.
Property, Plant and Equipment(Net PPE) was R1,974 Mil.
Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization(DDA) was R172 Mil.
Selling, General, & Admin. Expense(SGA) was R1,578 Mil.
Total Current Liabilities was R3,732 Mil.
Long-Term Debt & Capital Lease Obligation was R758 Mil.
Net Income was R403 Mil.
Gross Profit was R0 Mil.
Cash Flow from Operations was R1,032 Mil.
Total Receivables was R2,461 Mil.
Revenue was R21,735 Mil.
Gross Profit was R2,974 Mil.
Total Current Assets was R4,232 Mil.
Total Assets was R8,215 Mil.
Property, Plant and Equipment(Net PPE) was R2,184 Mil.
Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization(DDA) was R178 Mil.
Selling, General, & Admin. Expense(SGA) was R1,515 Mil.
Total Current Liabilities was R3,535 Mil.
Long-Term Debt & Capital Lease Obligation was R1,159 Mil.




1. DSRI = Days Sales in Receivables Index

Measured as the ratio of Revenue in Total Receivables in year t to year t-1.

A large increase in DSR could be indicative of revenue inflation.

DSRI=(Receivables_t / Revenue_t) / (Receivables_t-1 / Revenue_t-1)
=(2500.239 / 20305.2) / (2461.01 / 21734.924)
=0.123133 / 0.113228
=1.0875

2. GMI = Gross Margin Index

Measured as the ratio of gross margin in year t-1 to gross margin in year t.

Gross margin has deteriorated when this index is above 1. A firm with poorer prospects is more likely to manipulate earnings.

GMI=GrossMargin_t-1 / GrossMargin_t
=(GrossProfit_t-1 / Revenue_t-1) / (GrossProfit_t / Revenue_t)
=(2973.537 / 21734.924) / (3090.367 / 20305.2)
=0.136809 / 0.152196
=0.8989

3. AQI = Asset Quality Index

AQI is the ratio of asset quality in year t to year t-1.

Asset quality is measured as the ratio of non-current assets other than Property, Plant and Equipment to Total Assets.

AQI=(1 - (CurrentAssets_t + PPE_t) / TotalAssets_t) / (1 - (CurrentAssets_t-1 + PPE_t-1) / TotalAssets_t-1)
=(1 - (4329.582 + 1973.674) / 8229.855) / (1 - (4231.904 + 2183.677) / 8214.962)
=0.234099 / 0.219037
=1.0688

4. SGI = Sales Growth Index

Ratio of Revenue in year t to sales in year t-1.

Sales growth is not itself a measure of manipulation. However, growth companies are likely to find themselves under pressure to manipulate in order to keep up appearances.

SGI=Sales_t / Sales_t-1
=Revenue_t / Revenue_t-1
=20305.2 / 21734.924
=0.9342

5. DEPI = Depreciation Index

Measured as the ratio of the rate of Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization in year t-1 to the corresponding rate in year t.

DEPI greater than 1 indicates that assets are being depreciated at a slower rate. This suggests that the firm might be revising useful asset life assumptions upwards, or adopting a new method that is income friendly.

DEPI=(Depreciation_t-1 / (Depreciaton_t-1 + PPE_t-1)) / (Depreciation_t / (Depreciaton_t + PPE_t))
=(178.047 / (178.047 + 2183.677)) / (171.559 / (171.559 + 1973.674))
=0.075389 / 0.079972
=0.9427

Note: If the Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization data is not available, we assume that the depreciation rate is constant and set the Depreciation Index to 1.

6. SGAI = Sales, General and Administrative expenses Index

The ratio of Selling, General, & Admin. Expense(SGA) to Sales in year t relative to year t-1.

SGA expenses index > 1 means that the company is becoming less efficient in generate sales.

SGAI=(SGA_t / Sales_t) / (SGA_t-1 /Sales_t-1)
=(1578.089 / 20305.2) / (1515.081 / 21734.924)
=0.077718 / 0.069707
=1.1149

7. LVGI = Leverage Index

The ratio of total debt to Total Assets in year t relative to yeat t-1.

An LVGI > 1 indicates an increase in leverage

LVGI=((LTD_t + CurrentLiabilities_t) / TotalAssets_t) / ((LTD_t-1 + CurrentLiabilities_t-1) / TotalAssets_t-1)
=((758.028 + 3732.463) / 8229.855) / ((1158.85 + 3535.474) / 8214.962)
=0.545634 / 0.571436
=0.9548

8. TATA = Total Accruals to Total Assets

Total accruals calculated as the change in working capital accounts other than cash less depreciation.

TATA=(IncomefromContinuingOperations_t - CashFlowsfromOperations_t) / TotalAssets_t
=(NetIncome_t - NonOperatingIncome_t - CashFlowsfromOperations_t) / TotalAssets_t
=(402.712 - 0 - 1031.518) / 8229.855
=-0.076405

An M-Score of equal or less than -1.78 suggests that the company is unlikely to be a manipulator. An M-Score of greater than -1.78 signals that the company is likely to be a manipulator.

KAL Group has a M-score of -2.85 suggests that the company is unlikely to be a manipulator.

Frequently Asked Questions Learn more about Beneish M-Score →
What does a Beneish M-Score of -2.85 mean?
KAL Group (JSE:KAL) has a Beneish M-Score of -2.85 as of Aug. 22, 2026. The Beneish M-score measures the likelihood of earnings manipulation. View historical data on KAL Group and its competitors. According to the industry distribution chart, KAL Group ranks #315 out of 1093 companies in the Retail - Cyclical industry, placing it in the top 28.8%.
Is KAL Group's Beneish M-Score too high?
KAL Group's current Beneish M-Score is -2.85. Based on the distribution chart, KAL Group ranks #315 out of 1093 companies in the Retail - Cyclical industry, which is above the industry midpoint. Overall, KAL Group has a GF Score™ of 92/100 and is considered Modestly Overvalued, reflecting its overall financial health beyond just this single metric.
How does KAL Group's Beneish M-Score compare to CASY and WSM?
According to the Retail - Cyclical industry distribution chart, KAL Group ranks #315 out of 1093 companies for Beneish M-Score. This puts KAL Group in the upper half of its industry. See the competitive comparison table and distribution chart on this page for a detailed peer-by-peer breakdown.
What is a good Beneish M-Score for a Retail - Cyclical company?
A good Beneish M-Score depends on the Retail - Cyclical industry context. However, Beneish M-Score 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 Beneish M-Score mean?
A high Beneish M-Score can signal that a stock is expensive relative to its fundamentals. The Beneish M-score measures the likelihood of earnings manipulation. View historical data on KAL Group and its competitors. KAL Group's current Beneish M-Score is -2.85. However, context matters — high-growth companies often justify higher valuations. Always evaluate alongside other metrics like GF Score™ and GF Value™.
Is KAL Group stock overvalued right now?
Based on GuruFocus' analysis, KAL Group (JSE:KAL) is currently considered Modestly Overvalued. The stock's GF Value™ is R43.66, compared to a current price of R50.00 — trading 14.5% above its estimated fair value. The current Beneish M-Score is -2.85. KAL Group's overall GF Score™ is 92/100 with 5 warning signs to review. Investors should evaluate multiple metrics — including profitability, growth, and financial strength — before making a decision.
How is Beneish M-Score calculated?
Beneish M-Score is calculated from a company's financial statements. For KAL Group (JSE:KAL), the current Beneish M-Score is -2.85 as of Aug. 22, 2026. 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.

Is KAL Group (JSE:KAL) Overvalued in 2026?

Based on GuruFocus' analysis, KAL Group stock appears to be overvalued. The current stock price of R50.00 is trading 14.5% above its estimated GF Value™ of R43.66. GuruFocus considers KAL Group to be Modestly Overvalued.

Key valuation signals for JSE:KAL:

  • Beneish M-Score: -2.85
  • GF Value™: R43.66 vs. price of R50.00 (14.5% above fair value)
  • GF Score™: 92/100 with 5 warning signs

No single metric tells the full story. See the JSE:KAL stock analysis page for a complete view including 30-year financials, guru trades, and insider activity.


KAL Group Business Description

Address 1 Westhoven Street, Suite 110, , Private Bag X3041, Cape Winelands, Paarl, WC, ZAF, 7646
KAL Group Ltd is a lifestyle retailer offering agricultural inputs, fuel (farm and retail), and general and convenience retail products to consumers across Southern Africa. Its segments include Agrimark, PEG, Agrimark Grain and Manufacturing. The majority of the company's revenue is derived from the PEG segment, which operates retail fuel outlets, including convenience stores and quick-service restaurant locations, serving a broad customer base. Geographically, it generates the maximum revenue from South Africa and the rest from Namibia.
92GF Score

Get the complete analysis for JSE:KAL

Beneish M-Score is just one metric. See GF Value™, 30-year financials, guru trades, warning signs, and more.

R50.00
Price
R43.66
GF Value