CENTRE ETUDES EUROPEEN RHONE ALPES : revenue, balance sheet and financial ratios

In 2024, CENTRE ETUDES EUROPEEN RHONE ALPES achieves revenue of 54.1 M€. Over the period 2016-2024, the company shows strong growth with a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of +16.9%. Slight decline of -1% vs 2023. After deducting consumption (0 €), gross margin stands at 54.1 M€, i.e. a rate of 100%. This ratio measures the ability to generate value from commercial activity. EBITDA (= Gross margin - Personnel expenses - Taxes) reaches 12.5 M€, representing 23.1% of revenue. Warning negative scissor effect: despite revenue change (-1%), EBITDA varies by -35%, reducing margin by 11.9 pts. This reflects costs rising faster than revenue. This high EBITDA margin provides strong self-financing capacity and resilience to uncertainties. Ultimately, net income (= EBIT +/- financial result +/- exceptional - corporate tax) amounts to 10.0 M€, i.e. 18.4% of revenue. This profit can be retained or distributed to shareholders.

The debt ratio (= Financial debt / Equity x 100) stands at 134%. Debt level is high: negotiating margin with banks is reduced. Financial autonomy (= Equity / Total assets x 100) reaches 30%. The balance between equity and debt is satisfactory. Debt repayment capacity (= Financial debt / Cash flow) indicates it would take 1.4 years of cash flow to repay all financial debt. This short period demonstrates excellent debt sustainability. Cash flow represents 19.5% 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 242.85. 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 3.5x. Financial charges are adequately covered by operations.

Working capital requirement (WCR) measures the cash timing gap between customer collections and supplier/inventory payments. Average customer payment term: 96 days (formula: Customer receivables / Revenue incl. VAT x 360). Supplier term: 41 days. The gap of 55 days means the company finances its customers for over a month before being paid relative to supplier payments. This weighs on cash flow. Overall, WCR represents 128 days of revenue, i.e. 19.2 M€ to permanently finance. Over 2016-2024, WCR increased by +3280%, requiring additional financing.

Based on 412 transactions of similar company sales (all years), the value of CENTRE ETUDES EUROPEEN RHONE ALPES is estimated at 30 837 431 € (range 12 447 441€ - 86 441 229€). With an EBITDA of 12 480 430€, the sector multiple of 3.0x is applied. The price/revenue ratio is 0.29x (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.