Does Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA) Have A Healthy Balance Sheet?

David Iben put it well when he said, 'Volatility is not a risk we care about. What we care about is avoiding the 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. Importantly, Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA) does carry debt. But should shareholders be worried about its use of debt?

When Is Debt A Problem?

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, 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.

Check out our latest analysis for Axalta Coating Systems

How Much Debt Does Axalta Coating Systems Carry?

As you can see below, Axalta Coating Systems had US$3.93b of debt, at June 2020, which is about the same as the year before. You can click the chart for greater detail. On the flip side, it has US$1.12b in cash leading to net debt of about US$2.81b.

A Look At Axalta Coating Systems's Liabilities

The latest balance sheet data shows that Axalta Coating Systems had liabilities of US$860.9m due within a year, and liabilities of US$4.55b falling due after that. Offsetting this, it had US$1.12b in cash and US$700.2m in receivables that were due within 12 months. So its liabilities outweigh the sum of its cash and (near-term) receivables by US$3.6b.

This deficit is considerable relative to its market capitalization of US$5.60b, so it does suggest shareholders should keep an eye on Axalta Coating Systems's use of debt. Should its lenders demand that it shore up the balance sheet, shareholders would likely face severe dilution.

In order to size up a company's debt relative to its earnings, we calculate its net debt divided by its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) and its earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) divided by its interest expense (its interest cover). Thus we consider debt relative to earnings both with and without depreciation and amortization expenses.

While we wouldn't worry about Axalta Coating Systems's net debt to EBITDA ratio of 4.3, we think its super-low interest cover of 2.2 times is a sign of high leverage. So shareholders should probably be aware that interest expenses appear to have really impacted the business lately. Even worse, Axalta Coating Systems saw its EBIT tank 34% over the last 12 months. If earnings keep going like that over the long term, it has a snowball's chance in hell of paying off that debt. 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 Axalta Coating Systems 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, a business needs free cash flow to pay off debt; accounting profits just don't cut it. So it's worth checking how much of that EBIT is backed by free cash flow. During the last three years, Axalta Coating Systems generated free cash flow amounting to a very robust 80% of its EBIT, more than we'd expect. That puts it in a very strong position to pay down debt.

Our View

To be frank both Axalta Coating Systems's interest cover and its track record of (not) growing its EBIT make us rather uncomfortable with its debt levels. But at least it's pretty decent at converting EBIT to free cash flow; that's encouraging. Once we consider all the factors above, together, it seems to us that Axalta Coating Systems's debt is making it a bit risky. Some people like that sort of risk, but we're mindful of the potential pitfalls, so we'd probably prefer it carry less debt. There's no doubt that we learn most about debt from the balance sheet. But ultimately, every company can contain risks that exist outside of the balance sheet. To that end, you should learn about the 3 warning signs we've spotted with Axalta Coating Systems (including 1 which is makes us a bit uncomfortable) .

If, after all that, you're more interested in a fast growing company with a rock-solid balance sheet, then check out our list of net cash growth stocks without delay.

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