CARTOLUX-THIERS : revenue, balance sheet and financial ratios

In 2024, CARTOLUX-THIERS achieves revenue of 29.7 M€. Revenue is growing positively over 9 years (CAGR: +4.5%). Significant drop of -13% vs 2023. After deducting consumption (12.5 M€), gross margin stands at 17.2 M€, i.e. a rate of 58%. This ratio measures the ability to generate value from commercial activity. EBITDA (= Gross margin - Personnel expenses - Taxes) reaches 3.9 M€, representing 13.3% of revenue. Warning negative scissor effect: despite revenue change (-13%), EBITDA varies by -35%, reducing margin by 4.4 pts. This reflects costs rising faster than revenue. This level of operating margin is satisfactory for the sector. Ultimately, net income (= EBIT +/- financial result +/- exceptional - corporate tax) amounts to 1.5 M€, i.e. 5.1% of revenue. This profit can be retained or distributed to shareholders.

The debt ratio (= Financial debt / Equity x 100) stands at 97%. Debt level is high: negotiating margin with banks is reduced. Financial autonomy (= Equity / Total assets x 100) reaches 35%. The balance between equity and debt is satisfactory. Debt repayment capacity (= Financial debt / Cash flow) indicates it would take 2.1 years of cash flow to repay all financial debt. This short period demonstrates excellent debt sustainability. Cash flow represents 10.3% 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 202.96. 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 5.0x. 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: 48 days (formula: Customer receivables / Revenue incl. VAT x 360). Supplier term: 59 days. Favorable situation: supplier credit is longer than customer credit by 11 days. Inventory turnover is 30 days (= Average inventory / Cost of goods x 360). Fast turnover, sign of good inventory management. Overall, WCR represents 55 days of revenue, i.e. 4.5 M€ to permanently finance. Notable WCR improvement over the period (-36%), freeing up cash.

Based on 76 transactions of similar company sales (all years), the value of CARTOLUX-THIERS is estimated at 4 821 796 € (range 2 020 514€ - 10 010 052€). With an EBITDA of 3 939 195€, the sector multiple of 1.3x is applied. The price/revenue ratio is 0.20x (conservative valuation). 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.
Medium reliability: estimate to be confirmed with in-depth analysis.