Yahoo Finance Is Boiron (EPA:BOI) A Risky Investment?
Warren Buffett famously said, 'Volatility is far from synonymous with risk.' So it seems the smart money knows that debt - which is usually involved in bankruptcies - is a very important factor, when you assess how risky a company is. As with many other companies Boiron SA (EPA:BOI) makes use of debt. But the real question is whether this debt is making the company risky.
Why Does Debt Bring Risk?
Generally speaking, debt only becomes a real problem when a company can't easily pay it off, either by raising capital or with its own cash flow. In the worst case scenario, a company can go bankrupt if it cannot pay its creditors. However, a more frequent (but still costly) occurrence is where a company must issue shares at bargain-basement prices, permanently diluting shareholders, just to shore up its balance sheet. Of course, debt can be an important tool in businesses, particularly capital heavy businesses. The first thing to do when considering how much debt a business uses is to look at its cash and debt together.
Check out our latest analysis for Boiron
How Much Debt Does Boiron Carry?
The chart below, which you can click on for greater detail, shows that Boiron had €6.02m in debt in December 2019; about the same as the year before. However, it does have €208.4m in cash offsetting this, leading to net cash of €202.4m.
How Healthy Is Boiron's Balance Sheet?
We can see from the most recent balance sheet that Boiron had liabilities of €138.3m falling due within a year, and liabilities of €120.6m due beyond that. Offsetting this, it had €208.4m in cash and €128.5m in receivables that were due within 12 months. So it actually has €78.2m more liquid assets than total liabilities.
This short term liquidity is a sign that Boiron could probably pay off its debt with ease, as its balance sheet is far from stretched. Succinctly put, Boiron boasts net cash, so it's fair to say it does not have a heavy debt load!
The modesty of its debt load may become crucial for Boiron if management cannot prevent a repeat of the 23% cut to EBIT over the last year. Falling earnings (if the trend continues) could eventually make even modest debt quite risky. The balance sheet is clearly the area to focus on when you are analysing debt. But ultimately the future profitability of the business will decide if Boiron can strengthen its balance sheet over time. So if you're focused on the future you can check out this free report showing analyst profit forecasts.
Finally, while the tax-man may adore accounting profits, lenders only accept cold hard cash. While Boiron has net cash on its balance sheet, it's still worth taking a look at its ability to convert earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) to free cash flow, to help us understand how quickly it is building (or eroding) that cash balance. In the last three years, Boiron's free cash flow amounted to 31% of its EBIT, less than we'd expect. That weak cash conversion makes it more difficult to handle indebtedness.
Summing up
While we empathize with investors who find debt concerning, you should keep in mind that Boiron has net cash of €202.4m, as well as more liquid assets than liabilities. So we are not troubled with Boiron's debt use. When analysing debt levels, the balance sheet is the obvious place to start. However, not all investment risk resides within the balance sheet - far from it. For example, we've discovered 1 warning sign for Boiron that you should be aware of before investing here.
Of course, if you're the type of investor who prefers buying stocks without the burden of debt, then don't hesitate to discover our exclusive list of net cash growth stocks, today.
If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.
We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
