So, having totally cocked up the capital raise, NET's management is now scrambling to raise money via more debt. A couple of problems come to mind, i.e. the various covenants that will be applied to any debt.
1. Interest cover. With zero profit in FY2019 and no history of ever making a profit, NET's IC is negative. When a company's IC ratio is 1.5x or lower, its ability to meet interest expenses is questionable. 1.5x is generally considered to be a bare minimum acceptable ratio for a company and the tipping point below which lenders will likely refuse to lend the company more money. NET can't afford to pay interest unless it can find a benevolent lender willing to forego interest payments or is happy to accept a convertible note. Problematic with the SP going nowhere.
2. Gearing ratio. With market cap now only around $110m down from $450m a while ago, the permissible leverage NET can take on is also significantly lower. There is also the question of the existing debt providers and their willingness to have another tranche of debt added to the pile, or the impact on claims they have on the company's IP if things turn to sh*t. I can't recall the terms of the existing debt covenants (Brett, CountryBob can you help?) There may be some lenders out there willing to take a punt on NET and its highly skilled management team but the terms they extract are not going to be pretty.
It looks like new capital via equity is out of the question for the foreseeable future. Depending on how urgently NET needs this additional money, and it seems urgent given the running around that's happened this past month, it is not out of the question that NET will not be able to maintain operations and meet its revenue guidance if it can't raise the cash soon.
Time is running out. Anyone know someone who has a spare $4m to lend to NET, please raise your hand now. We need you.
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