Is Evotec (ETR:EVT) 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. We note that Evotec SE (ETR:EVT) does have debt on its balance sheet. But the more important question is: how much risk is that debt creating?

When Is Debt Dangerous?

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. Of course, plenty of companies use debt to fund growth, without any negative consequences. When we think about a company's use of debt, we first look at cash and debt together.

Check out our latest analysis for Evotec

What Is Evotec's Net Debt?

You can click the graphic below for the historical numbers, but it shows that as of December 2019 Evotec had €331.2m of debt, an increase on €109.7m, over one year. However, it does have €321.7m in cash offsetting this, leading to net debt of about €9.57m.

How Healthy Is Evotec's Balance Sheet?

According to the last reported balance sheet, Evotec had liabilities of €179.0m due within 12 months, and liabilities of €524.9m due beyond 12 months. Offsetting this, it had €321.7m in cash and €117.8m in receivables that were due within 12 months. So it has liabilities totalling €264.4m more than its cash and near-term receivables, combined.

Since publicly traded Evotec shares are worth a total of €3.41b, 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, Evotec 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). Thus we consider debt relative to earnings both with and without depreciation and amortization expenses.

Evotec has very little debt (net of cash), and boasts a debt to EBITDA ratio of 0.089 and EBIT of 14.7 times the interest expense. Indeed relative to its earnings its debt load seems light as a feather. And we also note warmly that Evotec grew its EBIT by 17% last year, making its debt load easier to handle. When analysing debt levels, the balance sheet is the obvious place to start. But it is future earnings, more than anything, that will determine Evotec'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.

But our final consideration is also important, because a company cannot pay debt with paper profits; it needs cold hard cash. So we clearly need to look at whether that EBIT is leading to corresponding free cash flow. Over the most recent three years, Evotec recorded free cash flow worth 75% of its EBIT, which is around normal, given free cash flow excludes interest and tax. This free cash flow puts the company in a good position to pay down debt, when appropriate.

Our View

Evotec's interest cover suggests it can handle its debt as easily as Cristiano Ronaldo could score a goal against an under 14's goalkeeper. And the good news does not stop there, as its net debt to EBITDA also supports that impression! Considering this range of factors, it seems to us that Evotec is quite prudent with its debt, and the risks seem well managed. So the balance sheet looks pretty healthy, to us. 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. Like risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 2 warning signs for Evotec (of which 1 can't be ignored!) you should know about.

If you're interested in investing in businesses that can grow profits without the burden of debt, then check out this free list of growing businesses that have net cash on the balance sheet.

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.

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