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.' 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. We note that Metro AG (ETR:B4B) does have debt on its balance sheet. But is this debt a concern to shareholders?
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. Ultimately, if the company can't fulfill its legal obligations to repay debt, shareholders could walk away with nothing. 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. 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. When we think about a company's use of debt, we first look at cash and debt together.
Check out our latest analysis for Metro
What Is Metro's Debt?
The chart below, which you can click on for greater detail, shows that Metro had €4.19b in debt in March 2024; about the same as the year before. However, because it has a cash reserve of €599.0m, its net debt is less, at about €3.59b.
How Strong Is Metro's Balance Sheet?
According to the last reported balance sheet, Metro had liabilities of €6.40b due within 12 months, and liabilities of €3.37b due beyond 12 months. On the other hand, it had cash of €599.0m and €767.0m worth of receivables due within a year. So its liabilities outweigh the sum of its cash and (near-term) receivables by €8.40b.
The deficiency here weighs heavily on the €1.54b company itself, as if a child were struggling under the weight of an enormous back-pack full of books, his sports gear, and a trumpet. So we definitely think shareholders need to watch this one closely. After all, Metro would likely require a major re-capitalisation if it had to pay its creditors today. When analysing debt levels, the balance sheet is the obvious place to start. But it is future earnings, more than anything, that will determine Metro'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.
In the last year Metro's revenue was pretty flat, and it made a negative EBIT. While that's not too bad, we'd prefer see growth.
Caveat Emptor
Importantly, Metro had an earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) loss over the last year. Indeed, it lost €79m at the EBIT level. If you consider the significant liabilities mentioned above, we are extremely wary of this investment. That said, it is possible that the company will turn its fortunes around. But we think that is unlikely since it is low on liquid assets, and made a loss of €39m in the last year. So we think this stock is quite risky. We'd prefer to pass. 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. For instance, we've identified 2 warning signs for Metro that 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. 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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About XTRA:B4B
Metro
Operates as a food wholesale company in Germany and internationally.
Fair value with moderate growth potential.
