TECHNOLOGY BRINGS REVOLUTIONARY CHANGES INTO THE BUSINESSES. IT ENABLES NEW DIMENSIONS OF COST OPTIMIZATION ON ONE SIDE, AND EXTREMELY FAST AND CHEAP EXPANSION ON THE OTHER SIDE. THIS CENTURY IS FOR SMART INVESTORS DEFINITELY A GOLDEN ERA. FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF VALUE CREATION, MEGA INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES ARE SHOWING ON THE INVESTOR RADARS – CASE OF MASTERCARD INC.

Mastercard Inc. is a specialized technology company offering e-payment solutions to banks, governments and others. In other words, clients are offered super-fast network for processing end-users’ transactions. The company philosophy is to simplify and upgrade the payment process. Efforts of the company are built around the main concern – to offer safety and security. The company today has 1,8 billion cardholders around the world, mainly in USA, UK, Canada and Brazil. Their brands MasterCard, Maestro and Cirrus became known as synonym for non-monetary business.

Sustainable achieving of high margins in the long-term

Through decades of operations the company developed key competitive advantages, which guarantee today’s success and include strong brand, high level of trust and global network of partnerships. Strong brand impacts the demand, high level of trust as the element of differentiation enables high profit margins and global network of partnerships results in economies of scale and optimal cost structure of operations.

Financials confirm the superb performance of Mastercard Inc. Market share of the company in 2017 hit 17% (2016: 16%, 2015: 12%), while net sales reached 12,5 billion USD. Business performance is improving as a result of consumption rise and changing consumer habits. In terms of value creation, an important fact is linked to the ability to maintain high and stable margins. EBIT margin for years already exceeds 50,0%.

Chart: Net sales and EBIT developments of Mastercard Inc.

Shareholder value creation is what really counts!

The success story of Mastercard Inc. (or some other company operating in tech-sector) recognized by investors is actually a bit deeper. It is linked to the potential of future value generation, which is significantly impacted also by a relatively low operations growth financing needs.

Technology is an interesting phenomenon. It allows one to reach economies of scale fast and without significant investments in capital expenditures (CapEx) or Operating expenditures (OpEx).

The growth as such for Mastercard Inc. does not represent a significant financing burden (compared to non-tech sector companies). In other words, the operations can expand through the existing solutions and significantly impact the value created. If we additionally take into the account the fact that nowadays still 80% of transactions are in cash and the pace of changing consumer habits, we understand the true value drivers.

How easy it is for Mastercard Inc. to finance its existing operations is obvious even now. Despite the relatively high (16,0%) growth of net sales in 2017, the level of shareholder’s equity remained on the same levels. Net profits were paid out in full. The needs of increasing invested capital were addressed completely with increased levels of financial debt. Despite raising of the financial debt, the indebtedness ratios are actually improving, since the market value of equity increases faster than the financial debt.

Every company has its own specifics of shareholder value creation, so it is important to understand what boosts company value the most!

The CEO of Mastercard Inc. Ajay Banga says: »Our investments are focused on the safety, security and development of solutions that fuel high growth of our business.« He is well aware of the areas of the biggest risks and the biggest opportunities. This fact confirms also recent acquisitions, which are executed with a purpose to expand the capabilities of the company and take over the technical solutions, which are about to present a competitive edge for the company in the future. For example, with acquisition of VocaLink Holdings Limited company gained advanced know-how in the area of real-time account transaction processing; with acquisition of Brighterion, Inc. the company gained the AI technology to better understand the transaction flows and prevent the security and safety gaps.

Companies that continuously create value for shareholders have competitive advantage over competitors and wider, meaning in the industry. In case of Mastercard Inc. we talk about the combination of attractive industry and strong competitive advantages. The company stock outperforms even those with biggest potential, selection of NASDAQ index companies.

Chart: Performance of Mastercard Inc. stock vs NASDAQ index

The thoughts of Mastercard Inc. management are concentrated on the core value driver – company’s growth and securitisation of underlying risks. The tools used are exclusively of technological nature. Technology & competitive advantages are the answer to smart managing of companies in 21st century.

The pace at which the technology is brought into the daily operations is high. It requires introduction of new business models. Preparation of more advanced business strategies. Continuous restructuring of activities. Implementation of creative ideas etc. As a result, the capital market positions of the most active companies are drastically improving. They attract investors. Grow the value for shareholders.

What about you? Are you aware of potential that the technology has in the context of your operations? Do you consider its implementation? Do you know which investments are smart and which actually represent a burden for your company?

What are the other shareholder value creation success stories that we know?

Company Uber offers transportation services and has no cars; Facebook is a media company and creates no content; Alibaba is a trading company with no stocks; Airbnb markets real estate, which are in possession of others etc. All these companies master the technology and its impact on value creation. Technology is revolutionizing the whole industries, which is primarily the cause why many sectors stagnate.

The answer on how to “Uber-ize” many other businesses is hiding the potential for new billionaires!

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Optimal capital structure (often also referred as or optimal financing mix) is one of the basic things required for a sound business. It refers to the way how companies finance their assets, how much it costs them and what they risk with it. Generally speaking, we talk about payables financing (suppliers), debt financing (banks) and equity financing (shareholders).

Corporate finance theory often addresses financing through weighted cost of capital (WACC), signaling the minimum level of return on assets engaged for which the economic value of the company is not being destroyed. For a perfect capital mix, the WACC is the lowest and the value for shareholders is maximized.

Financing mix: Balancing debt – equity

The chart presenting WACC in relation to the D/E ratio is U-shaped. Right part of the curve (area where the D/E ratio is above the optimal levels) is much steeper than the left part, signaling the fact that being too indebted is a bad decision to make.

The risk-taking of creditors is by its nature normally limited and therefore the financing is relatively attractively charged … at least as long the company indebtedness is in the healthy zone. When the company bridges that zone, the creditors start demanding higher collateral, decreasing the days of receivables outstanding, seeking to securitize receivables with third parties and increase the prices of goods sold, increasing the interest rates for refinancing activities etc. In this phase the company is already operating on the edge, risking increased illiquidity threats.

Optimal debt level is a relative term

Interestingly, levels of a sound financial debt globally significantly varies and is very much correlated with the 1) attractiveness of the region for the investors and investment flows as well as 2) growth potential. As expected, the highest debt levels are in developed countries such as USA and Western European countries (roughly 60% D/E ratio; 7x-8x Financial obligations / EBITDA ratio), followed by the developing Latin American countries, China, African & Middle East countries (roughly 50% D/E ratio; 6x-7x Financial obligations / EBITDA ratio) and relatively poorly indebted Eastern European countries and India (roughly 40% D/E ratio; 3x-4x Financial obligations / EBITDA ratio).

Almost half of the companies globally operate without or with minimal (<10%) financial debt and from that perspective do not exploit their full value maximization potential. On the other side, the debt of larger companies is often above the industry averages, transforming the debt into the strategical competitive advantage. In this context, we sometimes also see marginal leverage buyouts (LBOs) cases, that due to the leveraged nature and long-time periods often generate some value on the debt side.

Access to the right financial resources is crucial

Financing resources are the prerequisite for the company to operate as well as grow – organically (i.e. own investments in PPE) or inorganically (i.e. through M&A). When the company is growing at a fast pace and the business is either working capital intensive or PPE investment intensive, the company needs to be able to sufficiently provide new sources of equity as well. Generally acceptable is that the more mature the company is, the easier it is to find, maintain and optimize the financial resources. Companies in the early stages of development therefore often need to seek the seed and venture capital, since their risks are simply too high for the standard and risk-averse (not risk-loving) creditors. Furthermore, also companies in the early and mid-developing phase with high growth potential often come across liquidity problems, if they are not efficiently gathering their financial resources.

Equity financing is on one side most exposed to risks, but on the other side also unlimited upwards in terms of reward, since all the potential profits go to shareholders.

To sum up things, in terms of value for shareholders, a sound mix is preferable. Liabilities (payables financing & debt financing) help the company to exploit the full potential of value generation, while equity normally serves as a buffer.

Despite the fact that most successful companies in the last decade generated their value mostly through digitalization and non-asset intensive growth, the financing structure overall is not losing on its importance. Quite opposite, the market is becoming more competitive, leaving less & less space for errors and non-optimal financing structure.

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