A Look At The Intrinsic Value Of FastPassCorp A/S (CPH:FASTPC)

Key Insights

• FastPassCorp's estimated fair value is kr.18.14 based on 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity
• With kr.21.00 share price, FastPassCorp appears to be trading close to its estimated fair value
• When compared to theindustry average discount of -1,874%, FastPassCorp's competitors seem to be trading at a greater premium to fair value

Does the March share price for FastPassCorp A/S (CPH:FASTPC) reflect what it's really worth? Today, we will estimate the stock's intrinsic value by taking the expected future cash flows and discounting them to today's value. The Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model is the tool we will apply to do this. Models like these may appear beyond the comprehension of a lay person, but they're fairly easy to follow.

We would caution that there are many ways of valuing a company and, like the DCF, each technique has advantages and disadvantages in certain scenarios. For those who are keen learners of equity analysis, the Simply Wall St analysis model here may be something of interest to you.

See our latest analysis for FastPassCorp

The Calculation

We are going to use a two-stage DCF model, which, as the name states, takes into account two stages of growth. The first stage is generally a higher growth period which levels off heading towards the terminal value, captured in the second 'steady growth' period. In the first stage we need to estimate the cash flows to the business over the next ten years. Seeing as no analyst estimates of free cash flow are available to us, we have extrapolate the previous free cash flow (FCF) from the company's last reported value. We assume companies with shrinking free cash flow will slow their rate of shrinkage, and that companies with growing free cash flow will see their growth rate slow, over this period. We do this to reflect that growth tends to slow more in the early years than it does in later years.

Generally we assume that a dollar today is more valuable than a dollar in the future, so we discount the value of these future cash flows to their estimated value in today's dollars:

10-year free cash flow (FCF) forecast

	2024	2025	2026	2027	2028	2029	2030	2031	2032	2033
Levered FCF (DKK, Millions)	kr.931.3k	kr.848.5k	kr.797.6k	kr.766.0k	kr.746.6k	kr.735.0k	kr.728.8k	kr.726.2k	kr.726.1k	kr.727.7k
Growth Rate Estimate Source	Est @ -13.04%	Est @ -8.90%	Est @ -5.99%	Est @ -3.96%	Est @ -2.54%	Est @ -1.54%	Est @ -0.85%	Est @ -0.36%	Est @ -0.02%	Est @ 0.22%
Present Value (DKK, Millions) Discounted @ 5.4%	kr.0.9	kr.0.8	kr.0.7	kr.0.6	kr.0.6	kr.0.5	kr.0.5	kr.0.5	kr.0.5	kr.0.4

("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St)
Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = kr.5.9m

After calculating the present value of future cash flows in the initial 10-year period, we need to calculate the Terminal Value, which accounts for all future cash flows beyond the first stage. The Gordon Growth formula is used to calculate Terminal Value at a future annual growth rate equal to the 5-year average of the 10-year government bond yield of 0.8%. We discount the terminal cash flows to today's value at a cost of equity of 5.4%.

Terminal Value (TV)= FCF₂₀₃₃ × (1 + g) ÷ (r – g) = kr.728k× (1 + 0.8%) ÷ (5.4%– 0.8%) = kr.16m

Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)¹⁰= kr.16m÷ ( 1 + 5.4%)¹⁰= kr.9.5m

The total value, or equity value, is then the sum of the present value of the future cash flows, which in this case is kr.15m. To get the intrinsic value per share, we divide this by the total number of shares outstanding. Relative to the current share price of kr.21.0, the company appears around fair value at the time of writing. Remember though, that this is just an approximate valuation, and like any complex formula - garbage in, garbage out.

The Assumptions

Now the most important inputs to a discounted cash flow are the discount rate, and of course, the actual cash flows. Part of investing is coming up with your own evaluation of a company's future performance, so try the calculation yourself and check your own assumptions. The DCF also does not consider the possible cyclicality of an industry, or a company's future capital requirements, so it does not give a full picture of a company's potential performance. Given that we are looking at FastPassCorp as potential shareholders, the cost of equity is used as the discount rate, rather than the cost of capital (or weighted average cost of capital, WACC) which accounts for debt. In this calculation we've used 5.4%, which is based on a levered beta of 0.995. Beta is a measure of a stock's volatility, compared to the market as a whole. We get our beta from the industry average beta of globally comparable companies, with an imposed limit between 0.8 and 2.0, which is a reasonable range for a stable business.

Next Steps:

Valuation is only one side of the coin in terms of building your investment thesis, and it is only one of many factors that you need to assess for a company. It's not possible to obtain a foolproof valuation with a DCF model. Instead the best use for a DCF model is to test certain assumptions and theories to see if they would lead to the company being undervalued or overvalued. If a company grows at a different rate, or if its cost of equity or risk free rate changes sharply, the output can look very different. For FastPassCorp, there are three essential items you should further examine:

1. Risks: For instance, we've identified 3 warning signs for FastPassCorp that you should be aware of.
2. Other Solid Businesses: Low debt, high returns on equity and good past performance are fundamental to a strong business. Why not explore our interactive list of stocks with solid business fundamentals to see if there are other companies you may not have considered!
3. Other Top Analyst Picks: Interested to see what the analysts are thinking? Take a look at our interactive list of analysts' top stock picks to find out what they feel might have an attractive future outlook!

PS. The Simply Wall St app conducts a discounted cash flow valuation for every stock on the CPSE every day. If you want to find the calculation for other stocks just search here.

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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.