Yahoo Finance QUIZ (LON:QUIZ) Has A Pretty Healthy Balance Sheet
Legendary fund manager Li Lu (who Charlie Munger backed) once said, 'The biggest investment risk is not the volatility of prices, but whether you will suffer a permanent loss of capital.' 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. We can see that QUIZ plc (LON:QUIZ) does use debt in its business. But the more important question is: how much risk is that debt creating?
When Is Debt A Problem?
Debt assists a business until the business has trouble paying it off, either with new capital or with free cash flow. Part and parcel of capitalism is the process of 'creative destruction' where failed businesses are mercilessly liquidated by their bankers. While that is not too common, we often do see indebted companies permanently diluting shareholders because lenders force them to raise capital at a distressed price. Of course, plenty of companies use debt to fund growth, without any negative consequences. When we examine debt levels, we first consider both cash and debt levels, together.
See our latest analysis for QUIZ
What Is QUIZ's Debt?
As you can see below, QUIZ had UK£1.42m of debt at March 2022, down from UK£2.66m a year prior. However, it does have UK£5.84m in cash offsetting this, leading to net cash of UK£4.42m.
How Healthy Is QUIZ's Balance Sheet?
Zooming in on the latest balance sheet data, we can see that QUIZ had liabilities of UK£13.9m due within 12 months and liabilities of UK£206.0k due beyond that. Offsetting this, it had UK£5.84m in cash and UK£4.42m in receivables that were due within 12 months. So it has liabilities totalling UK£3.85m more than its cash and near-term receivables, combined.
This deficit isn't so bad because QUIZ is worth UK£13.4m, and thus could probably raise enough capital to shore up its balance sheet, if the need arose. But it's clear that we should definitely closely examine whether it can manage its debt without dilution. Despite its noteworthy liabilities, QUIZ boasts net cash, so it's fair to say it does not have a heavy debt load!
Notably, QUIZ made a loss at the EBIT level, last year, but improved that to positive EBIT of UK£270k in the last twelve months. The balance sheet is clearly the area to focus on when you are analysing debt. But it is future earnings, more than anything, that will determine QUIZ's ability to maintain a healthy balance sheet going forward. So if you want to see what the professionals think, you might find this free report on analyst profit forecasts to be interesting.
Finally, a company can only pay off debt with cold hard cash, not accounting profits. While QUIZ 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. Over the last year, QUIZ actually produced more free cash flow than EBIT. There's nothing better than incoming cash when it comes to staying in your lenders' good graces.
Summing up
Although QUIZ's balance sheet isn't particularly strong, due to the total liabilities, it is clearly positive to see that it has net cash of UK£4.42m. And it impressed us with free cash flow of UK£4.8m, being 1,781% of its EBIT. So we don't have any problem with QUIZ's use of debt. The balance sheet is clearly the area to focus on when you are analysing debt. However, not all investment risk resides within the balance sheet - far from it. To that end, you should be aware of the 4 warning signs we've spotted with QUIZ .
At the end of the day, it's often better to focus on companies that are free from net debt. You can access our special list of such companies (all with a track record of profit growth). It's free.
Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.
This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
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