Company analysis · Graz
Choose a question. You see how I answer it and what the answer rests on.
For your sector and region, I count how many companies are owned entirely by people aged 60 or over. I add how much substance those companies have, how they are financed and how large they are. You see where competitors, suppliers or customers may come up for sale.
What the answer rests on
The register of people with significant control and annual accounts at Companies House.
No register shows who actually wants to sell. I do not name individual companies.
An example
In UK machinery manufacturing, 60.5% of owner-managed companies have no owner under 60.
I read your public record the way a bank or finance house reads it before the first meeting. That covers the charges registered against you, with lender and status, the timing of your filings and how your debtors are financed. Each point sits next to your balance sheet and next to companies of your size.
What the answer rests on
The charges register, annual accounts and filing history at Companies House.
Only your bank knows its internal rating and your facilities on the day.
An example
Some companies still show charges as outstanding although their accounts show the loan long repaid.
A buyer starts with what is public. I read your accounts over six to eight years, your charges and your filing record in the same order. You know which questions will come first before anyone asks them.
What the answer rests on
Annual accounts, charges and filing history at Companies House.
I give a value as a figure only with your management accounts, because most published accounts contain no profit and loss account.
An example
In a run of accounts since 2018, two or three points usually catch a buyer's eye first.
I read the accounts of your company and of 20 to 40 companies with your SIC codes. You see who is building equity and who is investing, who finances their debtors and who is taking on staff.
What the answer rests on
Annual accounts and charges at Companies House.
Prices, product margins and customer lists are in no set of accounts.
An example
In two SIC codes of precision engineering, 22 companies with 10 to 100 staff file a full balance sheet.
You name your key customers and suppliers. I check each one against its accounts and its record at Companies House. Warning signs include a proposal to strike off, accounts filed late, a new charge or a change of directors.
What the answer rests on
Companies House, The Gazette, Insolvency Service statistics.
No public register shows a company's open invoices or how promptly it pays.
An example
18,031 UK manufacturers currently carry a proposal to strike off.
I lay the accounts of every company in your sector side by side. You see whether the sector is building or using up substance, how it is financed, and how that compares with the ONS and Make UK surveys.
What the answer rests on
Annual accounts at Companies House, ONS, Make UK.
No statistic shows the orders and prices of individual companies.
An example
Of 344 manufacturers with 10 to 100 staff that filed in late October, half have an equity ratio below 46.6%.
Enquiry
Describe how the question arises for your company. You hear from me by the next working day.
kontakt@sebastian-knorr.com01Method
Every UK limited company files its accounts at Companies House. I read these accounts over many years and for whole sectors. The same register shows who lends against a company and who owns it. Official statistics from the ONS and the Insolvency Service show how sectors and markets are moving.
A set of accounts can be shaped. Options and estimates move profit between years. So I first check how the accounts have been prepared, and only then read the ratios. A judgement rests on at least three years and on the figures for the sector. If something stands out, I look for the business that explains it.
Most small companies file a balance sheet without a profit and loss account. Repayments due, leases, facilities that have been cut back and the strength of the management are not on the balance sheet either. Your analysis names these gaps at the start and says where there is a trace of them. You know where the figures end and where your own knowledge decides.
Each figure in your analysis is traced to the filing it comes from, with its date. You and your bank can check every point yourselves. Where the record is silent, the analysis says so and leaves the gap open.
