ESPRIT DE CORDEE : revenue, balance sheet and financial ratios

In 2022, ESPRIT DE CORDEE achieves revenue of 171 k€. Over the period 2020-2022, the company shows strong growth with a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of +6.6%. Vs 2021: +4%. After deducting consumption (14 k€), gross margin stands at 157 k€, i.e. a rate of 92%. This ratio measures the ability to generate value from commercial activity. EBITDA (= Gross margin - Personnel expenses - Taxes) reaches 4 k€, representing 2.4% of revenue. Warning negative scissor effect: despite revenue change (+4%), EBITDA varies by -59%, reducing margin by 3.7 pts. This reflects costs rising faster than revenue. The operating margin remains fragile, requiring cost vigilance. Ultimately, net income (= EBIT +/- financial result +/- exceptional - corporate tax) amounts to 230 €, i.e. 0.1% of revenue. This profit can be retained or distributed to shareholders.

The debt ratio (= Financial debt / Equity x 100) stands at 1534%. Critical situation: debt significantly exceeds equity, severely limiting borrowing capacity and exposing the company to default risk. Financial autonomy (= Equity / Total assets x 100) reaches 58%. 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 3.2 years of cash flow to repay all financial debt. This ratio remains within usual banking standards. Cash flow represents 7.3% 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 127.39. 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 20.1x. 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: 12 days (formula: Customer receivables / Revenue incl. VAT x 360). Supplier term: 10 days. The company must finance 2 days of gap between collections and payments. Inventory turnover is 30 days (= Average inventory / Cost of goods x 360). Fast turnover, sign of good inventory management. Overall, WCR represents 5 days of revenue, i.e. 2 k€ to permanently finance. Over 2020-2022, WCR increased by +106%, requiring additional financing.

Based on 53 transactions of similar company sales (all years), the value of ESPRIT DE CORDEE is estimated at 23 452 € (range 9 675€ - 39 379€). With an EBITDA of 4 112€, the sector multiple of 2.6x is applied. The price/revenue ratio is 0.35x (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.