Some say volatility, rather than debt, is the best way to think about risk as an investor, but Warren Buffett famously said that '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. Importantly, Recipharm AB (publ) (STO:RECI B) does carry debt. But is this debt a concern to shareholders?
Why Does Debt Bring Risk?
Debt and other liabilities become risky for a business when it cannot easily fulfill those obligations, either with free cash flow or by raising capital at an attractive price. In the worst case scenario, a company can go bankrupt if it cannot pay its creditors. 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, the upside of debt is that it often represents cheap capital, especially when it replaces dilution in a company with the ability to reinvest at high rates of return. When we examine debt levels, we first consider both cash and debt levels, together.
See our latest analysis for Recipharm
What Is Recipharm's Net Debt?
As you can see below, at the end of June 2019, Recipharm had kr4.81b of debt, up from kr4.42b a year ago. Click the image for more detail. However, because it has a cash reserve of kr806.0m, its net debt is less, at about kr4.00b.
How Strong Is Recipharm's Balance Sheet?
Zooming in on the latest balance sheet data, we can see that Recipharm had liabilities of kr1.69b due within 12 months and liabilities of kr6.18b due beyond that. Offsetting these obligations, it had cash of kr806.0m as well as receivables valued at kr1.59b due within 12 months. So its liabilities total kr5.47b more than the combination of its cash and short-term receivables.
This is a mountain of leverage relative to its market capitalization of kr8.93b. Should its lenders demand that it shore up the balance sheet, shareholders would likely face severe dilution.
We measure a company's debt load relative to its earnings power by looking at its net debt divided by its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) and by calculating how easily its earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) cover its interest expense (interest cover). Thus we consider debt relative to earnings both with and without depreciation and amortization expenses.
Recipharm's debt is 3.9 times its EBITDA, and its EBIT cover its interest expense 2.7 times over. This suggests that while the debt levels are significant, we'd stop short of calling them problematic. Fortunately, Recipharm grew its EBIT by 2.0% in the last year, slowly shrinking its debt relative to earnings. When analysing debt levels, the balance sheet is the obvious place to start. But it is future earnings, more than anything, that will determine Recipharm's ability to maintain a healthy balance sheet going forward. So if you're focused on the future you can check out this free report showing analyst profit forecasts.