Is AT Systematization Berhad (KLSE:AT) In A Good Position To Invest In Growth?

Even when a business is losing money, it's possible for shareholders to make money if they buy a good business at the right price. For example, biotech and mining exploration companies often lose money for years before finding success with a new treatment or mineral discovery. Nonetheless, only a fool would ignore the risk that a loss making company burns through its cash too quickly.

Given this risk, we thought we'd take a look at whether AT Systematization Berhad (KLSE:AT) shareholders should be worried about its cash burn. In this report, we will consider the company's annual negative free cash flow, henceforth referring to it as the 'cash burn'. First, we'll determine its cash runway by comparing its cash burn with its cash reserves.

View our latest analysis for AT Systematization Berhad

How Long Is AT Systematization Berhad's Cash Runway?

A company's cash runway is the amount of time it would take to burn through its cash reserves at its current cash burn rate. As at March 2021, AT Systematization Berhad had cash of RM151m and such minimal debt that we can ignore it for the purposes of this analysis. Importantly, its cash burn was RM118m over the trailing twelve months. Therefore, from March 2021 it had roughly 15 months of cash runway. That's not too bad, but it's fair to say the end of the cash runway is in sight, unless cash burn reduces drastically. However, if we extrapolate the company's recent cash burn trend, then it would have a longer cash run way. You can see how its cash balance has changed over time in the image below.

How Well Is AT Systematization Berhad Growing?

It was quite stunning to see that AT Systematization Berhad increased its cash burn by 4,906% over the last year. While that isa little concerning at a glance, the company has a track record of recent growth, evidenced by the impressive 56% growth in revenue, over the very same year. Considering both these factors, we're not particularly excited by its growth profile. In reality, this article only makes a short study of the company's growth data. You can take a look at how AT Systematization Berhad is growing revenue over time by checking this visualization of past revenue growth.

Can AT Systematization Berhad Raise More Cash Easily?

AT Systematization Berhad 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 comparing a company's annual cash burn to its total market capitalisation, we can estimate roughly how many shares it would have to issue in order to run the company for another year (at the same burn rate).

Since it has a market capitalisation of RM239m, AT Systematization Berhad's RM118m in cash burn equates to about 49% of its market value. That's high expenditure relative to the value of the entire company, so if it does have to issue shares to fund more growth, that could end up really hurting shareholders returns (through significant dilution).

How Risky Is AT Systematization Berhad's Cash Burn Situation?

Even though its increasing cash burn makes us a little nervous, we are compelled to mention that we thought AT Systematization Berhad's revenue growth was relatively promising. Looking at the factors mentioned in this short report, we do think that its cash burn is a bit risky, and it does make us slightly nervous about the stock. Separately, we looked at different risks affecting the company and spotted 4 warning signs for AT Systematization Berhad (of which 2 can't be ignored!) you should know about.

If you would prefer to check out another company with better fundamentals, then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity and low debt or this list of stocks which are all forecast to grow.

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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.
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