The EV/EBITDA of ALS Limited is 16.04
EV/EBITDA is enterprise value divided by earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization. It is a measure of how expensive a stock is and is more frequently valid for comparisons across companies than the price to earnings ratio. It measures the price (in the form of enterprise value) an investor pays for the benefit of the company’s cash flow (in the form of EBITDA).
= enterprise value / EBITDA
Price to earnings ratios are impacted by a company's choice of capital structure - companies which raise money via debt will have lower P/Es (and therefore look cheaper) than companies that raise an equivalent amount of money by issuing shares, even though the two companies might have equivalent enterprise values. A sample case is when a company with debt were to raise money by issuing shares of stock, and then used the money to pay off the debt, this company's P/E ratio would shoot up because of the increased number of shares - although nothing about the fundamental value of the business has changed. EV / EBITDA is unaffected by capital structure as enterprise value includes the value of debt, and EBITDA is available to all investors (debt and equity) as it excludes interest payments on that debt. It is ideal for analysts and potential investors looking to compare companies within the same industry.
ALS Limited provides professional technical services primarily in the areas of testing, measurement, and inspection in Africa, Asia/Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, and the Americas. The company operates through three segments: Commodities, Life Sciences, and Industrial. The Commodities segment offers assaying and analytical testing, and metallurgical services for the mining and mineral exploration companies in geochemistry, metallurgy, inspection, and coal quality areas. Its testing and consulting services cover the resource life cycle, including exploration, feasibility, optimization, production, design, development, trade, and rehabilitation. This segment also provides coal sampling, analysis and certification, formation evaluation, and related analytical testing services. The Life Sciences segment offers analytical testing and sampling, and remote monitoring services for the environmental, food, pharmaceutical, and consumer products markets; and microbiological, physical, and chemical testing services. This segment also provides analytical testing data to assist consulting and engineering firms, industries, and governments. The Industrial segment offers diagnostic testing and engineering solutions for the energy, resources, transportation, and infrastructure sectors. This segment serves asset owners, operators, constructors, and equipment manufacturers in the power, petrochemical, mining, minerals processing, water, infrastructure, and transportation industries. The company was formerly known as Campbell Brothers Limited and changed its name to ALS Limited in August 2012. ALS Limited was founded in 1863 and is headquartered in Stafford, Australia.