IOUpay (ASX:IOU) Is In A Good Position To Deliver On Growth Plans

We can readily understand why investors are attracted to unprofitable companies. 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. Having said that, unprofitable companies are risky because they could potentially burn through all their cash and become distressed.

So should IOUpay (ASX:IOU) shareholders be worried about its cash burn? In this article, we define cash burn as its annual (negative) free cash flow, which is the amount of money a company spends each year to fund its growth. First, we'll determine its cash runway by comparing its cash burn with its cash reserves.

See our latest analysis for IOUpay

Does IOUpay Have A Long Cash Runway?

You can calculate a company's cash runway by dividing the amount of cash it has by the rate at which it is spending that cash. As at June 2021, IOUpay had cash of AU$52m and no debt. Importantly, its cash burn was AU$4.4m over the trailing twelve months. That means it had a cash runway of very many years as of June 2021. Even though this is but one measure of the company's cash burn, the thought of such a long cash runway warms our bellies in a comforting way. Depicted below, you can see how its cash holdings have changed over time.

How Well Is IOUpay Growing?

It was quite stunning to see that IOUpay increased its cash burn by 1,439% over the last year. That does give us pause, and we can't take much solace in the operating revenue growth of 12% in the same time frame. Considering both these metrics, we're a little concerned about how the company is developing. Of course, we've only taken a quick look at the stock's growth metrics, here. This graph of historic earnings and revenue shows how IOUpay is building its business over time.

Can IOUpay Raise More Cash Easily?

IOUpay seems to be in a fairly good position, in terms of cash burn, but we still think it's worthwhile considering how easily it could raise more money if it wanted to. Companies can raise capital through either debt or equity. One of the main advantages held by publicly listed companies is that they can sell shares to investors to raise cash and fund growth. By looking at a company's cash burn relative to its market capitalisation, we gain insight on how much shareholders would be diluted if the company needed to raise enough cash to cover another year's cash burn.

IOUpay's cash burn of AU$4.4m is about 4.8% of its AU$91m market capitalisation. Given that is a rather small percentage, it would probably be really easy for the company to fund another year's growth by issuing some new shares to investors, or even by taking out a loan.

How Risky Is IOUpay's Cash Burn Situation?

Even though its increasing cash burn makes us a little nervous, we are compelled to mention that we thought IOUpay's cash runway was relatively promising. Based on the factors mentioned in this article, we think its cash burn situation warrants some attention from shareholders, but we don't think they should be worried. Taking an in-depth view of risks, we've identified 3 warning signs for IOUpay that you should be aware of before investing.

Of course IOUpay 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.

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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