Is Lavena AD (BUL:4L4) Using Too Much Debt?

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 might be obvious that you need to consider debt, when you think about how risky any given stock is, because too much debt can sink a company. We can see that Lavena AD (BUL:4L4) does use debt in its business. But is this debt a concern to shareholders?

Why Does Debt Bring Risk?

Generally speaking, debt only becomes a real problem when a company can't easily pay it off, either by raising capital or with its own cash flow. If things get really bad, the lenders can take control of the business. However, a more usual (but still expensive) situation is where a company must dilute shareholders at a cheap share price simply to get debt under control. By replacing dilution, though, debt can be an extremely good tool for businesses that need capital to invest in growth at high rates of return. The first step when considering a company's debt levels is to consider its cash and debt together.

See our latest analysis for Lavena AD

What Is Lavena AD's Debt?

You can click the graphic below for the historical numbers, but it shows that Lavena AD had лв7.05m of debt in September 2020, down from лв8.33m, one year before. However, because it has a cash reserve of лв1.84m, its net debt is less, at about лв5.21m.

A Look At Lavena AD's Liabilities

We can see from the most recent balance sheet that Lavena AD had liabilities of лв2.85m falling due within a year, and liabilities of лв7.49m due beyond that. Offsetting this, it had лв1.84m in cash and лв2.80m in receivables that were due within 12 months. So its liabilities outweigh the sum of its cash and (near-term) receivables by лв5.70m.

Of course, Lavena AD has a market capitalization of лв38.7m, so these liabilities are probably manageable. Having said that, it's clear that we should continue to monitor its balance sheet, lest it change for the worse.

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). This way, we consider both the absolute quantum of the debt, as well as the interest rates paid on it.

Lavena AD has a low net debt to EBITDA ratio of only 1.4. And its EBIT easily covers its interest expense, being 10.8 times the size. So we're pretty relaxed about its super-conservative use of debt. In addition to that, we're happy to report that Lavena AD has boosted its EBIT by 52%, thus reducing the spectre of future debt repayments. When analysing debt levels, the balance sheet is the obvious place to start. But it is Lavena AD's earnings that will influence how the balance sheet holds up in the future. So if you're keen to discover more about its earnings, it might be worth checking out this graph of its long term earnings trend.

Finally, a business needs free cash flow to pay off debt; accounting profits just don't cut it. So we clearly need to look at whether that EBIT is leading to corresponding free cash flow. During the last three years, Lavena AD burned a lot of cash. While that may be a result of expenditure for growth, it does make the debt far more risky.

Our View

Based on what we've seen Lavena AD is not finding it easy, given its conversion of EBIT to free cash flow, but the other factors we considered give us cause to be optimistic. In particular, we are dazzled with its EBIT growth rate. When we consider all the elements mentioned above, it seems to us that Lavena AD is managing its debt quite well. Having said that, the load is sufficiently heavy that we would recommend any shareholders keep a close eye on it. When analysing debt levels, the balance sheet is the obvious place to start. However, not all investment risk resides within the balance sheet - far from it. Take risks, for example - Lavena AD has 1 warning sign we think you should be aware of.

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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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. 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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