Yahoo Finance We're Hopeful That Bengal Energy (TSE:BNG) Will Use Its Cash Wisely
Just because a business does not make any money, does not mean that the stock will go down. For example, although Amazon.com made losses for many years after listing, if you had bought and held the shares since 1999, you would have made a fortune. But while the successes are well known, investors should not ignore the very many unprofitable companies that simply burn through all their cash and collapse.
Given this risk, we thought we'd take a look at whether Bengal Energy (TSE:BNG) shareholders should be worried about its cash burn. For the purposes of this article, cash burn is the annual rate at which an unprofitable company spends cash to fund its growth; its negative free cash flow. The first step is to compare its cash burn with its cash reserves, to give us its 'cash runway'.
See our latest analysis for Bengal Energy
Does Bengal Energy Have A Long Cash Runway?
A company's cash runway is the amount of time it would take to burn through its cash reserves at its current cash burn rate. As at March 2022, Bengal Energy had cash of CA$5.4m and no debt. Looking at the last year, the company burnt through CA$3.5m. That means it had a cash runway of around 19 months as of March 2022. While that cash runway isn't too concerning, sensible holders would be peering into the distance, and considering what happens if the company runs out of cash. Importantly, if we extrapolate recent cash burn trends, the cash runway would be noticeably longer. Depicted below, you can see how its cash holdings have changed over time.
How Well Is Bengal Energy Growing?
One thing for shareholders to keep front in mind is that Bengal Energy increased its cash burn by 266% in the last twelve months. On the bright side, at least operating revenue was up 46% over the same period, giving some cause for hope. In light of the data above, we're fairly sanguine about the business growth trajectory. In reality, this article only makes a short study of the company's growth data. You can take a look at how Bengal Energy is growing revenue over time by checking this visualization of past revenue growth.
How Easily Can Bengal Energy Raise Cash?
While Bengal Energy seems to be in a fairly good position, it's still worth considering how easily it could raise more cash, even just to fuel faster growth. Companies can raise capital through either debt or equity. Many companies end up issuing new shares to fund future growth. We can compare a company's cash burn to its market capitalisation to get a sense for how many new shares a company would have to issue to fund one year's operations.
Bengal Energy has a market capitalisation of CA$41m and burnt through CA$3.5m last year, which is 8.5% of the company's market value. That's a low proportion, so we figure the company would be able to raise more cash to fund growth, with a little dilution, or even to simply borrow some money.
How Risky Is Bengal Energy's Cash Burn Situation?
Even though its increasing cash burn makes us a little nervous, we are compelled to mention that we thought Bengal Energy's revenue growth was relatively promising. Cash burning companies are always on the riskier side of things, but after considering all of the factors discussed in this short piece, we're not too worried about its rate of cash burn. On another note, Bengal Energy has 3 warning signs (and 1 which is a bit unpleasant) we think you should know about.
Of course Bengal Energy may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of companies boasting high return on equity, or this list of stocks that insiders are buying.
Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.
This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
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