Yahoo Finance Is Viscom (ETR:V6C) Using Too Much Debt?
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. 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. As with many other companies Viscom AG (ETR:V6C) makes use of debt. But should shareholders be worried about its use of debt?
When Is Debt Dangerous?
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. However, a more common (but still painful) scenario is that it has to raise new equity capital at a low price, thus permanently diluting shareholders. Of course, debt can be an important tool in businesses, particularly capital heavy businesses. When we examine debt levels, we first consider both cash and debt levels, together.
View our latest analysis for Viscom
How Much Debt Does Viscom Carry?
The image below, which you can click on for greater detail, shows that Viscom had debt of €6.64m at the end of June 2019, a reduction from €7.54m over a year. However, it also had €5.70m in cash, and so its net debt is €940.0k.
How Healthy Is Viscom's Balance Sheet?
We can see from the most recent balance sheet that Viscom had liabilities of €19.7m falling due within a year, and liabilities of €14.1m due beyond that. On the other hand, it had cash of €5.70m and €22.9m worth of receivables due within a year. So its liabilities total €5.15m more than the combination of its cash and short-term receivables.
Since publicly traded Viscom shares are worth a total of €89.0m, it seems unlikely that this level of liabilities would be a major threat. Having said that, it's clear that we should continue to monitor its balance sheet, lest it change for the worse. Carrying virtually no net debt, Viscom has a very light debt load indeed.
We use two main ratios to inform us about debt levels relative to earnings. The first is net debt divided by earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA), while the second is how many times its earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) covers its interest expense (or its interest cover, for short). The advantage of this approach is that we take into account both the absolute quantum of debt (with net debt to EBITDA) and the actual interest expenses associated with that debt (with its interest cover ratio).
Viscom has a low debt to EBITDA ratio of only 0.10. But the really cool thing is that it actually managed to receive more interest than it paid, over the last year. So it's fair to say it can handle debt like a hot shot teppanyaki chef handles cooking. It is just as well that Viscom's load is not too heavy, because its EBIT was down 44% over the last year. When a company sees its earnings tank, it can sometimes find its relationships with its lenders turn sour. 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 Viscom 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.
But our final consideration is also important, because a company cannot pay debt with paper profits; it needs cold hard cash. So we always check how much of that EBIT is translated into free cash flow. Looking at the most recent three years, Viscom recorded free cash flow of 23% of its EBIT, which is weaker than we'd expect. That's not great, when it comes to paying down debt.
Our View
Viscom's EBIT growth rate was a real negative on this analysis, although the other factors we considered were considerably better There's no doubt that its ability to cover its interest expense with its EBIT is pretty flash. Looking at all this data makes us feel a little cautious about Viscom's debt levels. While debt does have its upside in higher potential returns, we think shareholders should definitely consider how debt levels might make the stock more risky. Given Viscom 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.
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.
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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.
