Is JTEKT India (NSE:JTEKTINDIA) 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.' When we think about how risky a company is, we always like to look at its use of debt, since debt overload can lead to ruin. As with many other companies JTEKT India Limited (NSE:JTEKTINDIA) makes use of debt. But should shareholders be worried about its use of debt?

When Is Debt Dangerous?

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. If things get really bad, the lenders can take control of the business. 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. Of course, plenty of companies use debt to fund growth, without any negative consequences. The first step when considering a company's debt levels is to consider its cash and debt together.

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How Much Debt Does JTEKT India Carry?

You can click the graphic below for the historical numbers, but it shows that as of September 2022 JTEKT India had ₹572.9m of debt, an increase on ₹488.5m, over one year. On the flip side, it has ₹291.6m in cash leading to net debt of about ₹281.3m.

How Strong Is JTEKT India's Balance Sheet?

According to the last reported balance sheet, JTEKT India had liabilities of ₹3.29b due within 12 months, and liabilities of ₹477.1m due beyond 12 months. On the other hand, it had cash of ₹291.6m and ₹3.26b worth of receivables due within a year. So its liabilities total ₹215.0m more than the combination of its cash and short-term receivables.

Having regard to JTEKT India's size, it seems that its liquid assets are well balanced with its total liabilities. So it's very unlikely that the ₹40.6b company is short on cash, but still worth keeping an eye on the balance sheet. Carrying virtually no net debt, JTEKT India 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.

JTEKT India has a low debt to EBITDA ratio of only 0.17. And remarkably, despite having net debt, it actually received more in interest over the last twelve months than it had to pay. So there's no doubt this company can take on debt while staying cool as a cucumber. In addition to that, we're happy to report that JTEKT India has boosted its EBIT by 54%, thus reducing the spectre of future debt repayments. When analysing debt levels, the balance sheet is the obvious place to start. But it is future earnings, more than anything, that will determine JTEKT India'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.

Finally, a company can only pay off debt with cold hard cash, not accounting profits. So the logical step is to look at the proportion of that EBIT that is matched by actual free cash flow. Looking at the most recent two years, JTEKT India recorded free cash flow of 21% of its EBIT, which is weaker than we'd expect. That weak cash conversion makes it more difficult to handle indebtedness.

Our View

The good news is that JTEKT India's demonstrated ability to cover its interest expense with its EBIT delights us like a fluffy puppy does a toddler. But truth be told we feel its conversion of EBIT to free cash flow does undermine this impression a bit. Zooming out, JTEKT India seems to use debt quite reasonably; and that gets the nod from us. After all, sensible leverage can boost returns on equity. 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 1 warning sign we've spotted with JTEKT India .

At the end of the day, it's often better to focus on companies that are free from net debt. You can access our special list of such companies (all with a track record of profit growth). It's free.

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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.