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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 Northern Minerals (ASX:NTU) shareholders is whether they should be concerned by its rate of cash burn. In this report, we will consider the company's annual negative free cash flow, henceforth referring to it as the 'cash burn'. Let's start with an examination of the business' cash, relative to its cash burn.
See our latest analysis for Northern Minerals
When Might Northern Minerals Run Out Of Money?
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. When Northern Minerals last reported its balance sheet in June 2021, it had zero debt and cash worth AU$20m. Looking at the last year, the company burnt through AU$8.5m. That means it had a cash runway of about 2.3 years as of June 2021. That's decent, giving the company a couple years to develop its business. The image below shows how its cash balance has been changing over the last few years.
How Well Is Northern Minerals Growing?
Northern Minerals managed to reduce its cash burn by 82% over the last twelve months, which suggests it's on the right flight path. But the top line growth tells a different story, with operating revenue falling 50% in that time. Considering the factors above, the company doesn’t fare badly when it comes to assessing how it is changing over time. In reality, this article only makes a short study of the company's growth data. You can take a look at how Northern Minerals has developed its business over time by checking this visualization of its revenue and earnings history.
Can Northern Minerals Raise More Cash Easily?
While Northern Minerals 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. Companies can raise capital through either debt or equity. 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.
Northern Minerals' cash burn of AU$8.5m is about 3.2% of its AU$267m market capitalisation. That's a low proportion, so we figure the company would be able to raise more cash to fund growth, with a little dilution, or even to simply borrow some money.