Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Updated Cash/Book Value

At the end of Q3, I made some projections on cash at the end of the restructuring (end of Q1 2010) and taking additional losses in Q4 2009/Q1 2010.

"As of Q3, the company had cash/short term investments of $241m and $296m in stockholder equity. For the next two quarters where losses are still projected and the restructuring is to be completed, lets evaluate the book value/cash. Cash usage for the restructuring will be $24m + $5-10m (for 2008/2009 restructuring). Cash usage for the losses in Q4 and Q1 (say $30m - just a guess). They will bring in $3.5m for the Starent settlement. So, by end of Q1 2010, cash can be down to the $180m level."

Due to the building sale and issuance of new stock, the company will receive an additional $130m + $48.5m = $178.5m. That will take cash after restructuring and additional losses due to unprofitable Q4 and Q1 to $358.5m. Lets round to $350m since there are settlement charges + bonuses/severance to Blackmore/Viraj. Divide this by 150m total shares, and you get $2.33/share in cash.

Book value is much less. The last estimate I had was around $260m in book value after Q1 2010. Factoring in the $35m of loss in the building and $48.5m in cash infusion would yield around $273.5m. Dividing by 150m total shares, and you get $1.82. This would be less if my loss estimates are worse than $30m for Q4/Q1. However, there is discussion that the deferred revenue could significantly add to the book value when it is recognized.

If there are $200m of PAS deferred revenue to be recognized at margins of 40%, that could add $80m to the book value and move the book value to about $2.35/share.

Ultimately, the cash and book value will not matter if the company becomes profitable or really fails to get any business traction. However, for the near term, the cash/book value of around $2.3s reflects a good cushion for buying shares in the $1.8-2.2 range (not to mention new investors paid $2.2/share).

It will be interesting to see what the company does with the more than $350m in cash and new relationships going forward.