We're Keeping An Eye On aap Implantate's (ETR:AAQ) Cash Burn Rate
There's no doubt that money can be made by owning shares of unprofitable businesses. For example, although software-as-a-service business Salesforce.com lost money for years while it grew recurring revenue, if you held shares since 2005, you'd have done very well indeed. Nonetheless, only a fool would ignore the risk that a loss making company burns through its cash too quickly.
Given this risk, we thought we'd take a look at whether aap Implantate (ETR:AAQ) shareholders should be worried about its cash burn. In this article, we define cash burn as its annual (negative) free cash flow, which is the amount of money a company spends each year to fund its growth. We'll start by comparing its cash burn with its cash reserves in order to calculate its cash runway.
See our latest analysis for aap Implantate
Does aap Implantate Have A Long Cash Runway?
A company's cash runway is calculated by dividing its cash hoard by its cash burn. As at June 2019, aap Implantate had cash of €8.4m and such minimal debt that we can ignore it for the purposes of this analysis. In the last year, its cash burn was €7.4m. Therefore, from June 2019 it had roughly 14 months of cash runway. Importantly, analysts think that aap Implantate will reach cashflow breakeven in 3 years. Essentially, that means the company will either reduce its cash burn, or else require more cash. The image below shows how its cash balance has been changing over the last few years.
How Well Is aap Implantate Growing?
Some investors might find it troubling that aap Implantate is actually increasing its cash burn, which is up 12% in the last year. The revenue growth of 4.4% gives a ray of hope, at the very least. In light of the data above, we're fairly sanguine about the business growth trajectory. Clearly, however, the crucial factor is whether the company will grow its business going forward. So you might want to take a peek at how much the company is expected to grow in the next few years.
Can aap Implantate Raise More Cash Easily?
aap Implantate seems to be in a fairly good position, in terms of cash burn, but we still think it's worthwhile considering how easily it could raise more money if it wanted to. Generally speaking, a listed business can raise new cash through issuing shares or taking on debt. Many companies end up issuing new shares to fund future growth. By comparing a company's annual cash burn to its total market capitalisation, we can estimate roughly how many shares it would have to issue in order to run the company for another year (at the same burn rate).
aap Implantate has a market capitalisation of €14m and burnt through €7.4m last year, which is 53% of the company's market value. From this perspective, it seems that the company spent a huge amount relative to its market value, and we'd be very wary of a painful capital raising.
Is aap Implantate's Cash Burn A Worry?
Even though its cash burn relative to its market cap makes us a little nervous, we are compelled to mention that we thought aap Implantate's revenue growth was relatively promising. Shareholders can take heart from the fact that analysts are forecasting it will reach breakeven. Summing up, we think the aap Implantate's cash burn is a risk, based on the factors we mentioned in this article. We think it's very important to consider the cash burn for loss making companies, but other considerations such as the amount the CEO is paid can also enhance your understanding of the business. You can click here to see what aap Implantate's CEO gets paid each year.
Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies, and this list of stocks growth stocks (according to analyst forecasts)
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