@barrybigjobs
I agree that the company should be communicating a capital management plan.
In 2017 and 2018 (before the IT incident), ACU had $5.7m and $2.7m in cash, respectively, while paying a dividend equal to about 85 to 90% of profit. Based on the HY21 report, ACU had $3.6m in cash: in-line with previous dividend paying periods.
Even after the SA joint-venture payment this quarter (I believe circa $275k), cash this quarter should increase to about $4.0m (depending on how much they pay for professional indemnity insurance).
To your point, Barry, even with a relatively conservative 50% payout ratio, a modest share buyback could be afforded in 2022-2023. Worth noting is that ACU has circa $1.60m in franking credits on the balance sheet. In theory, phase 1 of the buyback could be an off-market buyback with franking credits attached (tender-based), followed by an on-market buyback. Without an off-market buyback, I'm not sure ACU will be able to full crystallise the value of the franking credit balance sheet anytime in the near to medium term future.
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