LES SENTINELLES DU RAIL : revenue, balance sheet and financial ratios

In 2024, LES SENTINELLES DU RAIL achieves revenue of 17.6 M€. Over the period 2015-2024, the company shows strong growth with a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of +33.5%. Significant drop of -19% vs 2023. After deducting consumption (67 k€), gross margin stands at 17.5 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 685 k€, representing 3.9% of revenue. Warning negative scissor effect: despite revenue change (-19%), EBITDA varies by -54%, reducing margin by 2.9 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 210 k€, i.e. 1.2% of revenue. This profit can be retained or distributed to shareholders.

The debt ratio (= Financial debt / Equity x 100) stands at 91%. Debt level is high: negotiating margin with banks is reduced. Financial autonomy (= Equity / Total assets x 100) reaches 25%. The balance between equity and debt is satisfactory. Debt repayment capacity (= Financial debt / Cash flow) indicates it would take 3.3 years of cash flow to repay all financial debt. This ratio remains within usual banking standards. Cash flow represents 2.5% of revenue. Cash flow measures resources generated by operations, available for investment and debt repayment.

The liquidity ratio (= Current assets / Current liabilities) stands at 131.18. 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 23.1x. 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: 28 days (formula: Customer receivables / Revenue incl. VAT x 360). Supplier term: 57 days. Favorable situation: supplier credit is longer than customer credit by 29 days. Inventory turnover is 1 days (= Average inventory / Cost of goods x 360). Fast turnover, sign of good inventory management. Overall, WCR represents 3 days of revenue, i.e. 161 k€ to permanently finance. Over 2015-2024, WCR increased by +232%, requiring additional financing.

Based on 76 transactions of similar company sales (all years), the value of LES SENTINELLES DU RAIL is estimated at 940 338 € (range 610 681€ - 2 309 779€). With an EBITDA of 685 225€, the sector multiple of 0.6x is applied. The price/revenue ratio is 0.13x (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.