LA COMETE : revenue, balance sheet and financial ratios

In 2023, LA COMETE achieves revenue of 1.8 M€. Over the period 2013-2023, the company shows strong growth with a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of +6.7%. Slight decline of -3% vs 2022. After deducting consumption (531 k€), gross margin stands at 1.3 M€, i.e. a rate of 71%. This ratio measures the ability to generate value from commercial activity. EBITDA (= Gross margin - Personnel expenses - Taxes) reaches 264 k€, representing 14.6% of revenue. Warning negative scissor effect: despite revenue change (-3%), EBITDA varies by -28%, reducing margin by 5.0 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 25 k€, i.e. 1.4% of revenue. This profit can be retained or distributed to shareholders.

The debt ratio (= Financial debt / Equity x 100) stands at 443%. 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 17%. Low autonomy: the company heavily depends on external financing (banks, suppliers). Debt repayment capacity (= Financial debt / Cash flow) indicates it would take 7.5 years of cash flow to repay all financial debt. Beyond 7 years, banks generally consider credit risk as high. Cash flow represents 10.7% 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 185.96. 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 23.2x. 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: 37 days. Excellent situation: suppliers finance 37 days of the operating cycle (retail model). Inventory turnover is 10 days (= Average inventory / Cost of goods x 360). Fast turnover, sign of good inventory management. Overall, WCR represents 6 days of revenue, i.e. 31 k€ to permanently finance. Over 2013-2023, WCR increased by +453%, requiring additional financing.

Based on 689 transactions of similar company sales in 2023, the value of LA COMETE is estimated at 1 222 651 € (range 673 741€ - 2 321 544€). With an EBITDA of 264 312€, the sector multiple of 6.3x is applied. The price/revenue ratio is 0.66x (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.