HERAULT DIFFUSION : revenue, balance sheet and financial ratios

In 2024, HERAULT DIFFUSION achieves revenue of 6.5 M€. Revenue is growing positively over 9 years (CAGR: +4.6%). Slight decline of -4% vs 2023. After deducting consumption (4.1 M€), gross margin stands at 2.4 M€, i.e. a rate of 37%. This ratio measures the ability to generate value from commercial activity. EBITDA (= Gross margin - Personnel expenses - Taxes) reaches 468 k€, representing 7.2% of revenue. Positive scissor effect: EBITDA margin improves by +4.7 pts, sign of improved operational efficiency. The operating margin remains fragile, requiring cost vigilance. Ultimately, net income (= EBIT +/- financial result +/- exceptional - corporate tax) amounts to 60 k€, i.e. 0.9% of revenue. This profit can be retained or distributed to shareholders.

The debt ratio (= Financial debt / Equity x 100) stands at 13448%. 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 0%. Low autonomy: the company heavily depends on external financing (banks, suppliers). Debt repayment capacity (= Financial debt / Cash flow) indicates it would take 11.9 years of cash flow to repay all financial debt. Beyond 7 years, banks generally consider credit risk as high. Cash flow represents 3.0% of revenue. Cash flow measures resources generated by operations, available for investment and debt repayment.

The liquidity ratio (= Current assets / Current liabilities) stands at 164.41. 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 22.9x. 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: 2 days (formula: Customer receivables / Revenue incl. VAT x 360). Supplier term: 67 days. Excellent situation: suppliers finance 65 days of the operating cycle (retail model). Inventory turnover is 98 days (= Average inventory / Cost of goods x 360). This high level ties up cash and potentially creates obsolescence risk. Overall, WCR represents 97 days of revenue, i.e. 1.8 M€ to permanently finance. Over 2016-2024, WCR increased by +27%, requiring additional financing.

Based on 117 transactions of similar company sales in 2024, the value of HERAULT DIFFUSION is estimated at 1 992 516 € (range 1 241 434€ - 3 379 898€). With an EBITDA of 467 606€, the sector multiple of 4.0x is applied. The price/revenue ratio is 0.53x (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.