Is Deutsche Telekom (ETR:DTE) 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.' 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. We can see that Deutsche Telekom AG (ETR:DTE) does use debt in its business. But the real question is whether this debt is making the company risky.

When Is Debt Dangerous?

Debt assists a business until the business has trouble paying it off, either with new capital or with free 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. Having said that, the most common situation is where a company manages its debt reasonably well - and to its own advantage. When we think about a company's use of debt, we first look at cash and debt together.

Check out our latest analysis for Deutsche Telekom

What Is Deutsche Telekom's Debt?

As you can see below, Deutsche Telekom had €110.6b of debt, at March 2022, which is about the same as the year before. You can click the chart for greater detail. However, it also had €9.88b in cash, and so its net debt is €100.7b.

A Look At Deutsche Telekom's Liabilities

Zooming in on the latest balance sheet data, we can see that Deutsche Telekom had liabilities of €36.5b due within 12 months and liabilities of €168.3b due beyond that. On the other hand, it had cash of €9.88b and €17.8b worth of receivables due within a year. So its liabilities total €177.1b more than the combination of its cash and short-term receivables.

The deficiency here weighs heavily on the €93.3b 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'd watch its balance sheet closely, without a doubt. After all, Deutsche Telekom would likely require a major re-capitalisation if it had to pay its creditors today.

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

Deutsche Telekom has a debt to EBITDA ratio of 3.1 and its EBIT covered its interest expense 3.1 times. This suggests that while the debt levels are significant, we'd stop short of calling them problematic. Notably, Deutsche Telekom's EBIT was pretty flat over the last year, which isn't ideal given the debt load. There's no doubt that we learn most about debt from the balance sheet. But it is future earnings, more than anything, that will determine Deutsche Telekom'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, while the tax-man may adore accounting profits, lenders only accept cold hard cash. So it's worth checking how much of that EBIT is backed by free cash flow. Looking at the most recent three years, Deutsche Telekom recorded free cash flow of 50% of its EBIT, which is weaker than we'd expect. That's not great, when it comes to paying down debt.

Our View

We'd go so far as to say Deutsche Telekom's level of total liabilities was disappointing. Having said that, its ability to convert EBIT to free cash flow isn't such a worry. We're quite clear that we consider Deutsche Telekom to be really rather risky, as a result of its balance sheet health. So we're almost as wary of this stock as a hungry kitten is about falling into its owner's fish pond: once bitten, twice shy, as they say. 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 be aware of the 3 warning signs we've spotted with Deutsche Telekom .

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.