TTM calculation not working correctly

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  • updated
  • Not a bug

I'm concerned that the TTM function in your financial statements section is not working correctly. I'll give an example 

here for you to examine and either tell me how I've misunderstood or see if you can fix it. I'm looking at Gaslog Partners (GLOP). Here's your page showing their cash flow statement by quarter:

Image 13883

You can see that the Net Income over the last four quarters was: 29.7 + 20.4 + 21.8 + 29.4 = 101.3.  However, if I switch to TTM by Quarter is says the net income total for that last four quarters was 84.1, as shown here:


Image 13884



That is clearly very different. The same problem seems to occur for all line items on both the income statement and the cash flow statement. Can you please point out what I'm looking at wrongly or have this fixed right away. As I look at it, your TTM page, which is a great idea by the way, is giving a very wrong picture of the situation.

How would you rate the customer service you received?

Satisfaction mark by Paul_S 4 years ago

The customer service rep did an excellent job of looking into the issue and explaining it to me. The answer is unsatisfying because it sounds like the numbers in the database can't be corrected, but that is not his fault.

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anonymous
  • Under review

Hi Paul,

Thanks so much for raising this issue. You are 100% correct that in general the last 4 quarters should be the same as the TTM view. However, with this specific company, it seems they restated some financials within the last year which is causing the difference. The company itself filed different Revenue numbers for the same 9 month period:


I'm looking into why we don't take the latest restated numbers in both the quarterly and TTM views. I will update you when we have more info.

Thanks,

Daniel Hochman

Director of Product, Seeking Alpha

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anonymous
  • Not a bug

Hi,

Here's what S&P Capital IQ responded: (LTM is the same as TTM)

The Latest Twelve Months (LTM ) period type for S&P Capital IQ® Financials is calculated by taking the difference of the financials from the year-to-date period for a specific date less the corresponding year-to-date period from the prior year, and adding the financials from the most recently completed fiscal year results as of that date.

The calculation is as follows: LTM = YTD + Prior FY - Prior YTD

LTM is not calculated using the sum of four consecutive quarters of data as the goal is to incorporate the most recently audited available information in the metric. As quarterly and interim results are usually unaudited, companies often restate or reclassify reported data from filing to filing throughout the year. To account for this, the best way to look at an LTM metric is the method described above. The LTM metrics calculated by CIQ frequently do not add up to the sum of the most recent four consecutive quarters. The same applies when comparing fiscal year-end results to the four reported quarters for that fiscal year due to the nature of how companies report their financials.


Thanks,

Daniel Hochman

Director of Product, Seeking Alpha

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Paul_S
Quote from anonymous

Hi,

Here's what S&P Capital IQ responded: (LTM is the same as TTM)

The Latest Twelve Months (LTM ) period type for S&P Capital IQ® Financials is calculated by taking the difference of the financials from the year-to-date period for a specific date less the corresponding year-to-date period from the prior year, and adding the financials from the most recently completed fiscal year results as of that date.

The calculation is as follows: LTM = YTD + Prior FY - Prior YTD

LTM is not calculated using the sum of four consecutive quarters of data as the goal is to incorporate the most recently audited available information in the metric. As quarterly and interim results are usually unaudited, companies often restate or reclassify reported data from filing to filing throughout the year. To account for this, the best way to look at an LTM metric is the method described above. The LTM metrics calculated by CIQ frequently do not add up to the sum of the most recent four consecutive quarters. The same applies when comparing fiscal year-end results to the four reported quarters for that fiscal year due to the nature of how companies report their financials.


Thanks,

Daniel Hochman

Director of Product, Seeking Alpha

Hi Daniel,

Thank you for the follow-up message. I understand the calculation method you presented. The fact is, either way you calculate it, I think using the revised numbers is the most accurate way to show what occurred. I can't think of a good argument for using preliminary un-audited figures. Presumably the figures were revised to correct the errors in the preliminary numbers or to account for changes related to a corporate actions. I guess if you are getting a feed from S&P Capital IQ there isn't anything you can do about it and I'll know to just ignore the figures you present for this company. But, as a general matter, if there is a way to ask the data provider to always send you the most up to date figures, that would be ideal.

Thank you,

Paul