More on Coles' profit

Elizabeth Knight in the Herald follows up on the Coles profit, and makes the point that I've made in class repeatedly: pro forma earnings numbers are problematic in that it is not clear what has been included and excluded from GAAP income, which makes it difficult to compare with both previous earnings numbers from (in this case) Coles, or to compare Coles with other companies.
Key quote:

And it is fair to say that this week's results support their views to the extent of the rot within the all important supermarkets business is greater than even the harsher critics had expected.

The variance in the analysts' views on the underlying profit also suggests that there is a lack of transparency in the earnings numbers and a lack of trust in how they were presented.

They all came to the conclusion that they were poor but were at odds about degree.

It seems that creating confusion, rather than clarity, appears to be one motivation for using pro forma numbers. Not always, mind you.