Is IG Design Group (LON:IGR) A Risky Investment?

Some say volatility, rather than debt, is the best way to think about risk as an investor, but Warren Buffett famously said that '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. Importantly, IG Design Group plc (LON:IGR) does carry debt. But the more important question is: how much risk is that debt creating?

What Risk Does Debt Bring?

Debt is a tool to help businesses grow, but if a business is incapable of paying off its lenders, then it exists at their mercy. Part and parcel of capitalism is the process of 'creative destruction' where failed businesses are mercilessly liquidated by their bankers. 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. 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.

View our latest analysis for IG Design Group

How Much Debt Does IG Design Group Carry?

You can click the graphic below for the historical numbers, but it shows that as of March 2021 IG Design Group had US$56.6m of debt, an increase on US$30.8m, over one year. However, it does have US$132.8m in cash offsetting this, leading to net cash of US$76.2m.

How Healthy Is IG Design Group's Balance Sheet?

Zooming in on the latest balance sheet data, we can see that IG Design Group had liabilities of US$252.9m due within 12 months and liabilities of US$118.3m due beyond that. On the other hand, it had cash of US$132.8m and US$118.5m worth of receivables due within a year. So its liabilities outweigh the sum of its cash and (near-term) receivables by US$120.0m.

Since publicly traded IG Design Group shares are worth a total of US$718.7m, 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. While it does have liabilities worth noting, IG Design Group also has more cash than debt, so we're pretty confident it can manage its debt safely.

IG Design Group grew its EBIT by 3.8% in the last year. That's far from incredible but it is a good thing, when it comes to paying off debt. When analysing debt levels, the balance sheet is the obvious place to start. But it is future earnings, more than anything, that will determine IG Design Group'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 business needs free cash flow to pay off debt; accounting profits just don't cut it. While IG Design Group has net cash on its balance sheet, it's still worth taking a look at its ability to convert earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) to free cash flow, to help us understand how quickly it is building (or eroding) that cash balance. Happily for any shareholders, IG Design Group actually produced more free cash flow than EBIT over the last three years. There's nothing better than incoming cash when it comes to staying in your lenders' good graces.

Summing up

While IG Design Group does have more liabilities than liquid assets, it also has net cash of US$76.2m. The cherry on top was that in converted 119% of that EBIT to free cash flow, bringing in US$56m. So we are not troubled with IG Design Group's debt use. The balance sheet is clearly the area to focus on when you are analysing debt. However, not all investment risk resides within the balance sheet - far from it. For instance, we've identified 3 warning signs for IG Design Group that you should be aware of.

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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