Business Valuation: Insights and Innovations for 2024

The latest research on business valuation multiples highlights several key insights:

• Profit Multiples by Industry: The profit multiples for various industries have been updated for 2024, reflecting the financial performance and valuation solidity of companies. These multiples are crucial for investors and potential buyers to assess a company’s financial health. However, there’s a caution against uncritical application of these multiples, as they may lead to biased valuations that don’t represent the fair value of a company.
• Valuation Multiples – What They Miss: A report by Morgan Stanley discusses the limitations of valuation multiples, noting that they are becoming less informative. It examines why P/E and EV/EBITDA multiples can provide different signals about a company’s relative attractiveness and the importance of understanding the fundamentals behind these figures.
• Business Valuation Through Market Multiples: Analysis dedicated to the valuation of companies through a multiples approach outlines the main multiples used, the procedure, and the criticalities in the application process. It emphasises the simplicity of the method but also the potential shortcomings if not applied carefully.

In summary, while valuation multiples such as profit, (we normally use NOPAT – check out why here) or in some industries revenue, are widely used and provide a quick way to assess company value, recent research advises caution. It’s important to understand the underlying assumptions and potential biases that can arise from an uncritical application of these multiples. Analysts are encouraged to complement multiples with a thorough analysis of a company’s fundamentals to achieve a more accurate valuation.

Our Capitaliz software analyses nearly 100 non-financial metrics as part of the algorithm to determine the valuation – these lead to an assessment of growth, risk, predicted cash flow performance and ultimately the likelihood of future returns. These metrics are accompanied by detailed analysis of industry benchmarks, used to identify over and under-performance, as well as industry trends and related risk. This then allows us to remove some of the bias and create a reliable valuation model for any business in any industry. This model is used in eight countries around the world and is becoming the benchmark standard for business valuation.

Dr Craig West

Founder & Chairman | Succession Plus

Dr Craig West is a strategic accountant who has over 20 years of experience advising business owners.

With a background as an accountant in practice and two master’s degrees, Craig formed a strong view that the majority of business owners (and often their advisers) were unprepared and unaware of the steps required to prepare for exit. He then designed and documented a unique 21-Step Business Succession and Exit Planning process to assist owners and their advisers in navigating this process.

Craig now acts as a strategic business and financial mentor for mid-market business owners. Craig has written four critically acclaimed books educating business owners on employee incentives, succession planning, asset protection, and exit strategies. Additionally, he has completed doctoral research on Employee Share Ownership Plans (ESOPs) for succession.

Craig is a Member of the Forbes Business Council where he leverages his extensive experience to contribute valuable insights on helping business leaders navigate the complexities of growing and exiting their businesses.

In April 2024, the Exit Planning Institute admitted Craig to the International Exit Planning Circle of Excellence.