BESSON & CIE : revenue, balance sheet and financial ratios

In 2024, BESSON & CIE achieves revenue of 2.5 M€. Revenue is growing positively over 9 years (CAGR: +4.9%). Vs 2023: +6%. After deducting consumption (-78 k€), gross margin stands at 2.6 M€, i.e. a rate of 103%. This ratio measures the ability to generate value from commercial activity. EBITDA (= Gross margin - Personnel expenses - Taxes) reaches 1.1 M€, representing 43.6% of revenue. This high EBITDA margin provides strong self-financing capacity and resilience to uncertainties. Net income is negative at -248 k€ (-9.9% of revenue), which will impact equity.

The debt ratio (= Financial debt / Equity x 100) stands at 25%. This very low level reflects a solid financial structure, offering significant room for future investments or acquisitions. Financial autonomy (= Equity / Total assets x 100) reaches 78%. This high autonomy means the company finances most of its assets through equity, a sign of strength. Debt repayment capacity (= Financial debt / Cash flow) indicates it would take 5.2 years of cash flow to repay all financial debt. This ratio remains within usual banking standards. Cash flow represents 133.6% of revenue. Cash flow measures resources generated by operations, available for investment and debt repayment. This high level provides strong self-financing capacity.

The liquidity ratio (= Current assets / Current liabilities) stands at 1549.91. Concretely, the company has €2 of liquid assets for every €1 of short-term debt: no cash risk within 12 months. The interest coverage ratio (= EBIT / Interest expenses) is 54.4x. Operating income very largely covers interest expenses: high safety margin.

Working capital requirement (WCR) measures the cash timing gap between customer collections and supplier/inventory payments. Average customer payment term: 422 days (formula: Customer receivables / Revenue incl. VAT x 360). Supplier term: 62 days. The gap of 360 days means the company finances its customers for over a month before being paid relative to supplier payments. This weighs on cash flow. Inventory turnover is 386 days (= Average inventory / Cost of goods x 360). This high level ties up cash and potentially creates obsolescence risk. Overall, WCR represents 1833 days of revenue, i.e. 12.8 M€ to permanently finance. Over 2016-2024, WCR increased by +207%, requiring additional financing.

Based on 169 transactions of similar company sales in 2024, the value of BESSON & CIE is estimated at 4 599 651 € (range 1 306 920€ - 8 270 601€). With an EBITDA of 1 096 787€, the sector multiple of 5.6x is applied. The price/revenue ratio is 0.81x (in line with sector norms). This multiples method compares the actual sale price of similar companies to their financial indicators (Revenue, EBITDA, Net Income). It provides a market-based indicative estimate.