Calculating The Intrinsic Value Of Inspiration Healthcare Group plc (LON:IHC)

Key Insights

• The projected fair value for Inspiration Healthcare Group is UK£0.24 based on 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity

• Inspiration Healthcare Group's UK£0.28 share price indicates it is trading at similar levels as its fair value estimate

How far off is Inspiration Healthcare Group plc (LON:IHC) from its intrinsic value? Using the most recent financial data, we'll take a look at whether the stock is fairly priced by taking the expected future cash flows and discounting them to their present value. The Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model is the tool we will apply to do this. Don't get put off by the jargon, the math behind it is actually quite straightforward.

Companies can be valued in a lot of ways, so we would point out that a DCF is not perfect for every situation. Anyone interested in learning a bit more about intrinsic value should have a read of the Simply Wall St analysis model.

Check out our latest analysis for Inspiration Healthcare Group

What's The Estimated Valuation?

We use what is known as a 2-stage model, which simply means we have two different periods of growth rates for the company's cash flows. Generally the first stage is higher growth, and the second stage is a lower growth phase. To start off with, we need to estimate the next ten years of cash flows. Where possible we use analyst estimates, but when these aren't available we extrapolate the previous free cash flow (FCF) from the last estimate or 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 need to discount the sum of these future cash flows to arrive at a present value estimate:

10-year free cash flow (FCF) forecast

	2024	2025	2026	2027	2028	2029	2030	2031	2032	2033
Levered FCF (£, Millions)	UK£5.02m	UK£4.12m	UK£2.08m	UK£1.21m	UK£864.2k	UK£694.5k	UK£602.4k	UK£549.5k	UK£518.4k	UK£500.4k
Growth Rate Estimate Source	Analyst x1	Analyst x1	Analyst x1	Est @ -41.79%	Est @ -28.76%	Est @ -19.64%	Est @ -13.26%	Est @ -8.79%	Est @ -5.66%	Est @ -3.47%
Present Value (£, Millions) Discounted @ 8.0%	UK£4.6	UK£3.5	UK£1.7	UK£0.9	UK£0.6	UK£0.4	UK£0.4	UK£0.3	UK£0.3	UK£0.2

("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St)
Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = UK£13m

The second stage is also known as Terminal Value, this is the business's cash flow after the first stage. For a number of reasons a very conservative growth rate is used that cannot exceed that of a country's GDP growth. In this case we have used the 5-year average of the 10-year government bond yield (1.6%) to estimate future growth. In the same way as with the 10-year 'growth' period, we discount future cash flows to today's value, using a cost of equity of 8.0%.

Terminal Value (TV)= FCF₂₀₃₃ × (1 + g) ÷ (r – g) = UK£500k× (1 + 1.6%) ÷ (8.0%– 1.6%) = UK£7.9m

Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)¹⁰= UK£7.9m÷ ( 1 + 8.0%)¹⁰= UK£3.7m

The total value, or equity value, is then the sum of the present value of the future cash flows, which in this case is UK£17m. The last step is to then divide the equity value by the number of shares outstanding. Relative to the current share price of UK£0.3, the company appears around fair value at the time of writing. The assumptions in any calculation have a big impact on the valuation, so it is better to view this as a rough estimate, not precise down to the last cent.

dcf

The Assumptions

We would point out that the most important inputs to a discounted cash flow are the discount rate and of course the actual cash flows. If you don't agree with these result, have a go at the calculation yourself and play with the 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 Inspiration Healthcare Group 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 8.0%, which is based on a levered beta of 1.168. 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.

SWOT Analysis for Inspiration Healthcare Group

Strength

• Net debt to equity ratio below 40%.

Weakness

• Interest payments on debt are not well covered.

• Dividend is low compared to the top 25% of dividend payers in the Medical Equipment market.

Opportunity

• Has sufficient cash runway for more than 3 years based on current free cash flows.

• Good value based on P/S ratio compared to estimated Fair P/S ratio.

Threat

• Debt is not well covered by operating cash flow.

• Paying a dividend but company is unprofitable.

Looking Ahead:

Although the valuation of a company is important, it ideally won't be the sole piece of analysis you scrutinize for a company. DCF models are not the be-all and end-all of investment valuation. Preferably you'd apply different cases and assumptions and see how they would impact the company's valuation. For instance, if the terminal value growth rate is adjusted slightly, it can dramatically alter the overall result. For Inspiration Healthcare Group, there are three important factors you should look at:

1. Risks: For example, we've discovered 2 warning signs for Inspiration Healthcare Group that you should be aware of before investing here.

2. Future Earnings: How does IHC's growth rate compare to its peers and the wider market? Dig deeper into the analyst consensus number for the upcoming years by interacting with our free analyst growth expectation chart.

3. 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!

PS. The Simply Wall St app conducts a discounted cash flow valuation for every stock on the AIM 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.