@madamswer its a case by case basis that i apply...

@madamswer

its a case by case basis that i apply this....basically EBITDA is an approximate for cashflow (minus the working capital and balance sheet movements)

For any capex intense companies where the capex is lumpy, i would not be doing this.
For a tech firm with low capital requirements and where most of the equivalent of "growth or maintenance capex" i.e. the R&D costs (basically software developer labour) are expensed rather than capitalised, the earnings are already being artificially deflated/punished by a P/E ratio comparison.

At this particular point in time, for ISD, the accounting amortisation is clearly not indicative of the actual cash capex & intangible spending required to grow the business. The organic growth in FY15 and FY16 did not require much extra incremental capex & intangible spending. The drivers of growth were 1) price increases 2) cross-sell 3) acquisitions - this did not go well 4) client wins... of the 4 drivers, only acquisitions consumed a lot of capital (and consume it did)