Is Dovre Group (HEL:DOV1V) 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 Dovre Group Plc (HEL:DOV1V) does have debt on its balance sheet. But the more important question is: how much risk is that debt creating?

What Risk Does Debt Bring?

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. However, a more frequent (but still costly) occurrence is where a company must issue shares at bargain-basement prices, permanently diluting shareholders, just to shore up its balance sheet. Having said that, the most common situation is where a company manages its debt reasonably well - and to its own advantage. The first thing to do when considering how much debt a business uses is to look at its cash and debt together.

View our latest analysis for Dovre Group

What Is Dovre Group's Net Debt?

The image below, which you can click on for greater detail, shows that at June 2021 Dovre Group had debt of €6.11m, up from €3.42m in one year. However, because it has a cash reserve of €5.42m, its net debt is less, at about €693.0k.

A Look At Dovre Group's Liabilities

We can see from the most recent balance sheet that Dovre Group had liabilities of €30.6m falling due within a year, and liabilities of €4.73m due beyond that. Offsetting this, it had €5.42m in cash and €29.3m in receivables that were due within 12 months. So these liquid assets roughly match the total liabilities.

Having regard to Dovre Group's size, it seems that its liquid assets are well balanced with its total liabilities. So while it's hard to imagine that the €68.3m company is struggling for cash, we still think it's worth monitoring its balance sheet. But either way, Dovre Group has virtually no net debt, so it's fair to say it does not have a heavy debt load!

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). The advantage of this approach is that we take into account both the absolute quantum of debt (with net debt to EBITDA) and the actual interest expenses associated with that debt (with its interest cover ratio).

While Dovre Group's low debt to EBITDA ratio of 0.22 suggests only modest use of debt, the fact that EBIT only covered the interest expense by 6.4 times last year does give us pause. But the interest payments are certainly sufficient to have us thinking about how affordable its debt is. The good news is that Dovre Group has increased its EBIT by 5.4% over twelve months, which should ease any concerns about debt repayment. When analysing debt levels, the balance sheet is the obvious place to start. But it is Dovre Group's earnings that will influence how the balance sheet holds up in the future. So when considering debt, it's definitely worth looking at the earnings trend. Click here for an interactive snapshot.

But our final consideration is also important, because a company cannot pay debt with paper profits; it needs cold hard cash. So the logical step is to look at the proportion of that EBIT that is matched by actual free cash flow. During the last three years, Dovre Group produced sturdy free cash flow equating to 77% of its EBIT, about what we'd expect. This free cash flow puts the company in a good position to pay down debt, when appropriate.

Our View

Happily, Dovre Group's impressive conversion of EBIT to free cash flow implies it has the upper hand on its debt. And that's just the beginning of the good news since its net debt to EBITDA is also very heartening. Zooming out, Dovre Group seems to use debt quite reasonably; and that gets the nod from us. After all, sensible leverage can boost returns on equity. When analysing debt levels, the balance sheet is the obvious place to start. But ultimately, every company can contain risks that exist outside of the balance sheet. To that end, you should be aware of the 4 warning signs we've spotted with Dovre Group .

When all is said and done, sometimes its easier to focus on companies that don't even need debt. Readers can access a list of growth stocks with zero net debt 100% free, right now.

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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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