Yahoo Finance Is Finnair Oyj (HEL:FIA1S) Using Too Much Debt?
Warren Buffett famously said, 'Volatility is far from synonymous with risk.' It's only natural to consider a company's balance sheet when you examine how risky it is, since debt is often involved when a business collapses. We can see that Finnair Oyj (HEL:FIA1S) does use debt in its business. But should shareholders be worried about its use of debt?
When Is Debt Dangerous?
Debt is a tool to help businesses grow, but if a business is incapable of paying off its lenders, then it exists at their mercy. 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. Having said that, the most common situation is where a company manages its debt reasonably well - and to its own advantage. The first thing to do when considering how much debt a business uses is to look at its cash and debt together.
See our latest analysis for Finnair Oyj
How Much Debt Does Finnair Oyj Carry?
As you can see below, Finnair Oyj had €601.5m of debt at September 2019, down from €687.3m a year prior. But it also has €1.12b in cash to offset that, meaning it has €523.2m net cash.
A Look At Finnair Oyj's Liabilities
We can see from the most recent balance sheet that Finnair Oyj had liabilities of €1.37b falling due within a year, and liabilities of €1.75b due beyond that. On the other hand, it had cash of €1.12b and €199.5m worth of receivables due within a year. So its liabilities outweigh the sum of its cash and (near-term) receivables by €1.79b.
The deficiency here weighs heavily on the €768.1m company itself, as if a child were struggling under the weight of an enormous back-pack full of books, his sports gear, and a trumpet." So we definitely think shareholders need to watch this one closely. At the end of the day, Finnair Oyj would probably need a major re-capitalization if its creditors were to demand repayment. Finnair Oyj boasts net cash, so it's fair to say it does not have a heavy debt load, even if it does have very significant liabilities, in total.
The modesty of its debt load may become crucial for Finnair Oyj if management cannot prevent a repeat of the 49% cut to EBIT over the last year. When a company sees its earnings tank, it can sometimes find its relationships with its lenders turn sour. There's no doubt that we learn most about debt from the balance sheet. But ultimately the future profitability of the business will decide if Finnair Oyj can strengthen its balance sheet over time. So if you want to see what the professionals think, you might find this free report on analyst profit forecasts to be interesting.
Finally, while the tax-man may adore accounting profits, lenders only accept cold hard cash. While Finnair Oyj 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, Finnair Oyj's free cash flow amounted to 26% of its EBIT, less than we'd expect. That weak cash conversion makes it more difficult to handle indebtedness.
Summing up
Although Finnair Oyj's balance sheet isn't particularly strong, due to the total liabilities, it is clearly positive to see that it has net cash of €523.2m. Despite the cash, we do find Finnair Oyj's level of total liabilities concerning, so we're not particularly comfortable with the stock. Given Finnair Oyj has a strong balance sheet is profitable and pays a dividend, it would be good to know how fast its dividends are growing, if at all. You can find out instantly by clicking this link.
If you're interested in investing in businesses that can grow profits without the burden of debt, then check out this free list of growing businesses that have net cash on the balance sheet.
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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. Thank you for reading.
