Here's Why We're Watching Philogen's (BIT:PHIL) Cash Burn Situation

We can readily understand why investors are attracted to unprofitable companies. For example, although software-as-a-service business Salesforce.com lost money for years while it grew recurring revenue, if you held shares since 2005, you'd have done very well indeed. But while history lauds those rare successes, those that fail are often forgotten; who remembers Pets.com?

So, the natural question for Philogen (BIT:PHIL) shareholders is whether they should be concerned by its rate of cash burn. For the purpose of this article, we'll define cash burn as the amount of cash the company is spending each year to fund its growth (also called its negative free cash flow). Let's start with an examination of the business' cash, relative to its cash burn.

View our latest analysis for Philogen

Does Philogen Have A Long Cash Runway?

A company's cash runway is calculated by dividing its cash hoard by its cash burn. Philogen has such a small amount of debt that we'll set it aside, and focus on the €12m in cash it held at December 2020. Looking at the last year, the company burnt through €17m. Therefore, from December 2020 it had roughly 9 months of cash runway. That's quite a short cash runway, indicating the company must either reduce its annual cash burn or replenish its cash. Depicted below, you can see how its cash holdings have changed over time.

Is Philogen's Revenue Growing?

We're hesitant to extrapolate on the recent trend to assess its cash burn, because Philogen actually had positive free cash flow last year, so operating revenue growth is probably our best bet to measure, right now. The grim reality for shareholders is that operating revenue fell by 62% over the last twelve months, which is not what we want to see in a cash burning company. Clearly, however, the crucial factor is whether the company will grow its business going forward. For that reason, it makes a lot of sense to take a look at our analyst forecasts for the company.

How Hard Would It Be For Philogen To Raise More Cash For Growth?

Since its revenue growth is moving in the wrong direction, Philogen shareholders may wish to think ahead to when the company may need to raise more cash. Companies can raise capital through either debt or equity. Commonly, a business will sell new shares in itself to raise cash and drive 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.

Philogen has a market capitalisation of €439m and burnt through €17m last year, which is 3.8% of the company's market value. 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.

Is Philogen's Cash Burn A Worry?

On this analysis of Philogen's cash burn, we think its cash burn relative to its market cap was reassuring, while its falling revenue has us a bit worried. Summing up, we think the Philogen's cash burn is a risk, based on the factors we mentioned in this article. Separately, we looked at different risks affecting the company and spotted 3 warning signs for Philogen (of which 2 are a bit unpleasant!) you should know about.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. 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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