CREST : revenue, balance sheet and financial ratios

In 2024, CREST achieves revenue of 1.4 M€. Over the period 2016-2024, the company shows strong growth with a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of +10.2%. Significant drop of -11% vs 2023. After deducting consumption (359 k€), gross margin stands at 1.1 M€, i.e. a rate of 75%. This ratio measures the ability to generate value from commercial activity. EBITDA (= Gross margin - Personnel expenses - Taxes) reaches 173 k€, representing 12.2% of revenue. Warning negative scissor effect: despite revenue change (-11%), EBITDA varies by -34%, reducing margin by 4.3 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 107 k€, i.e. 7.5% of revenue. This profit can be retained or distributed to shareholders.

The debt ratio (= Financial debt / Equity x 100) stands at 44%. Debt remains under control: the company retains capacity to raise new debt if needed. Financial autonomy (= Equity / Total assets x 100) reaches 62%. 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 3.1 years of cash flow to repay all financial debt. This ratio remains within usual banking standards. Cash flow represents 9.4% of revenue. Cash flow measures resources generated by operations, available for investment and debt repayment. Satisfactory level allowing partial financing of growth.

The liquidity ratio (= Current assets / Current liabilities) stands at 569.22. 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 10.7x. 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: 0 days (formula: Customer receivables / Revenue incl. VAT x 360). Supplier term: 22 days. Favorable situation: supplier credit is longer than customer credit by 22 days. Inventory turnover is 4 days (= Average inventory / Cost of goods x 360). Fast turnover, sign of good inventory management. WCR is negative (-24 days): operations structurally generate cash. Notable WCR improvement over the period (-882%), freeing up cash.

Based on 698 transactions of similar company sales in 2024, the value of CREST is estimated at 857 348 € (range 444 712€ - 1 610 391€). With an EBITDA of 172 782€, the sector multiple of 5.4x is applied. The price/revenue ratio is 0.57x (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.