Is APB Resources Berhad (KLSE:APB) In A Good Position To Deliver On Growth Plans?

There's no doubt that money can be made by owning shares of unprofitable businesses. For example, biotech and mining exploration companies often lose money for years before finding success with a new treatment or mineral discovery. Having said that, unprofitable companies are risky because they could potentially burn through all their cash and become distressed.

Given this risk, we thought we'd take a look at whether APB Resources Berhad (KLSE:APB) shareholders should 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. We'll start by comparing its cash burn with its cash reserves in order to calculate its cash runway.

See our latest analysis for APB Resources Berhad

How Long Is APB Resources Berhad's Cash Runway?

A company's cash runway is calculated by dividing its cash hoard by its cash burn. As at December 2019, APB Resources Berhad had cash of RM11m and no debt. In the last year, its cash burn was RM10m. So it had a cash runway of approximately 13 months from December 2019. 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. Depicted below, you can see how its cash holdings have changed over time.

How Well Is APB Resources Berhad Growing?

On balance, we think it's mildly positive that APB Resources Berhad trimmed its cash burn by 20% over the last twelve months. And operating revenue was up by 3.6%, too. On balance, we'd say the company is improving over time. In reality, this article only makes a short study of the company's growth data. This graph of historic earnings and revenue shows how APB Resources Berhad is building its business over time.

Can APB Resources Berhad Raise More Cash Easily?

While APB Resources Berhad 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. Issuing new shares, or taking on debt, are the most common ways for a listed company to raise more money for its business. Many companies end up issuing new shares to fund future 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.

Since it has a market capitalisation of RM46m, APB Resources Berhad's RM10m in cash burn equates to about 22% of its market value. That's not insignificant, and if the company had to sell enough shares to fund another year's growth at the current share price, you'd likely witness fairly costly dilution.

So, Should We Worry About APB Resources Berhad's Cash Burn?

On this analysis of APB Resources Berhad's cash burn, we think its cash burn reduction was reassuring, while its cash burn relative to its market cap has us a bit worried. Even though we don't think it has a problem with its cash burn, the analysis we've done in this article does suggest that shareholders should give some careful thought to the potential cost of raising more money in the future. Taking a deeper dive, we've spotted 2 warning signs for APB Resources Berhad you should be aware of, and 1 of them is significant.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies, and this list of stocks growth stocks (according to analyst forecasts)

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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. Thank you for reading.