(Finance) – ValueTrack It placed estimates and fair value under review on BetterThisa company listed on Euronext Growth Milan and among the main Italian operators in the multi-channel customer experience sector, after the publication of some preliminary FY23 KPIs, results that are worse than expectedpartly for industrial and partly accounting reasons.
From the industrial point of view, the top line was affected by the worsening of the macro scenario, while profitability also suffered from poor planning of structural costs (to support a top line initially estimated at 100 million euros). From the accounting point of view, the redetermination of some past revenue/cost items and the adoption of new accounting policies on investments in lead generation (now expensed at 100%) had a negative impact on the EBITDA for the year of approximately 5-6 million euros . Net debt improved compared to September despite a long cash conversion cycle and a slowdown in the integration of acquired entities.
Based on preliminary data, Value Track calculates the FY23 net debt/EBITDA ratio at approximately 10xMoreover well above the bond covenant “BetterThis 4.75% 2022-2026” (less than or equal to 3.5x).
According to analysts, the priorities for 2024 I am multiple: 1) on the industrial side, accelerate the current growth of financial and energy/utility customers and finalize cost reduction efforts in order to recover greater operating profitability; 2) on a financial level to: a) obtain better management of working capital, b) cut cash-outs for the acquisition of minorities (e.g. the legal dispute with OM Group, minority shareholder of Megliovò Human), c) renegotiate the bond covenants, in the interest of all the group’s stakeholders.
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