Deutsche EuroShop (ETR:DEQ) Takes On Some Risk With Its Use Of Debt

Warren Buffett famously said, 'Volatility is far from synonymous with risk.' 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 Deutsche EuroShop AG (ETR:DEQ) does have debt on its balance sheet. But the real question is whether this debt is making the company risky.

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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. In the worst case scenario, a company can go bankrupt if it cannot pay its creditors. 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, 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.

What Is Deutsche EuroShop's Net Debt?

As you can see below, at the end of December 2024, Deutsche EuroShop had €1.81b of debt, up from €1.68b a year ago. Click the image for more detail. However, because it has a cash reserve of €212.4m, its net debt is less, at about €1.60b.

A Look At Deutsche EuroShop's Liabilities

Zooming in on the latest balance sheet data, we can see that Deutsche EuroShop had liabilities of €67.2m due within 12 months and liabilities of €2.15b due beyond that. Offsetting this, it had €212.4m in cash and €19.1m in receivables that were due within 12 months. So its liabilities outweigh the sum of its cash and (near-term) receivables by €1.99b.

When you consider that this deficiency exceeds the company's €1.46b market capitalization, you might well be inclined to review the balance sheet intently. In the scenario where the company had to clean up its balance sheet quickly, it seems likely shareholders would suffer extensive dilution.

View our latest analysis for Deutsche EuroShop

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.

Deutsche EuroShop has a rather high debt to EBITDA ratio of 6.6 which suggests a meaningful debt load. But the good news is that it boasts fairly comforting interest cover of 5.5 times, suggesting it can responsibly service its obligations. Deutsche EuroShop grew its EBIT by 6.3% in the last year. That's far from incredible but it is a good thing, when it comes to paying off debt. The balance sheet is clearly the area to focus on when you are analysing debt. But it is future earnings, more than anything, that will determine Deutsche EuroShop'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.

Finally, a company can only pay off debt with cold hard cash, not accounting profits. So we always check how much of that EBIT is translated into free cash flow. Over the most recent three years, Deutsche EuroShop recorded free cash flow worth 74% 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

To be frank both Deutsche EuroShop's level of total liabilities and its track record of managing its debt, based on its EBITDA, 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 Deutsche EuroShop's debt is making it a bit risky. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but we'd generally feel more comfortable with less leverage. 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. To that end, you should learn about the 2 warning signs we've spotted with Deutsche EuroShop (including 1 which is a bit unpleasant) .

Of course, if you're the type of investor who prefers buying stocks without the burden of debt, then don't hesitate to discover our exclusive list of net cash growth stocks, today.

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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.