Why is ŠKODA TRANSPORTATION's new profit not showing up as cash?

ŠKODA TRANSPORTATION, the Plzeň rail vehicle maker, turned a loss into a profit in FY2025. Revenue was CZK 29.4bn, 5.5% more than the CZK 27.9bn of FY2024. Operating profit reached CZK 1.6bn after an operating loss of CZK 401m a year earlier, and net profit came to CZK 727m after a net loss of CZK 1.4bn. The cash did not follow. Operating cash flow, the money the business itself generated, was CZK -84.4m for the year, in consolidated IFRS accounts with an unqualified audit opinion.

In a business that builds trams and trains to order, such a gap is common. Payments often follow delivery milestones, while work, parts and stock are paid for earlier, so receivables and inventory can swallow a profit before it becomes cash. Revenue booked ahead of billing has the same effect. The accounts do not say which line absorbed the difference here. I would watch the cash line, not the profit line. A profit you cannot spend is still a profit, but it pays no suppliers.