These 4 Measures Indicate That Titagarh Wagons (NSE:TWL) Is Using Debt Extensively

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. We note that Titagarh Wagons Limited (NSE:TWL) does have debt on its balance sheet. But should shareholders be worried about its use of debt?

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. 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, the upside of debt is that it often represents cheap capital, especially when it replaces dilution in a company with the ability to reinvest at high rates of return. The first thing to do when considering how much debt a business uses is to look at its cash and debt together.

Check out our latest analysis for Titagarh Wagons

How Much Debt Does Titagarh Wagons Carry?

The image below, which you can click on for greater detail, shows that at September 2021 Titagarh Wagons had debt of ₹8.67b, up from ₹7.55b in one year. However, because it has a cash reserve of ₹1.06b, its net debt is less, at about ₹7.61b.

How Healthy Is Titagarh Wagons' Balance Sheet?

Zooming in on the latest balance sheet data, we can see that Titagarh Wagons had liabilities of ₹11.2b due within 12 months and liabilities of ₹6.56b due beyond that. Offsetting this, it had ₹1.06b in cash and ₹5.88b in receivables that were due within 12 months. So it has liabilities totalling ₹10.8b more than its cash and near-term receivables, combined.

This deficit is considerable relative to its market capitalization of ₹14.1b, so it does suggest shareholders should keep an eye on Titagarh Wagons' use of debt. This suggests shareholders would be heavily diluted if the company needed to shore up its balance sheet in a hurry.

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).

Weak interest cover of 1.6 times and a disturbingly high net debt to EBITDA ratio of 6.5 hit our confidence in Titagarh Wagons like a one-two punch to the gut. This means we'd consider it to have a heavy debt load. The good news is that Titagarh Wagons grew its EBIT a smooth 44% over the last twelve months. Like the milk of human kindness that sort of growth increases resilience, making the company more capable of managing debt. There's no doubt that we learn most about debt from the balance sheet. But it is Titagarh Wagons's earnings that will influence how the balance sheet holds up in the future. So if you're keen to discover more about its earnings, it might be worth checking out this graph of its long term earnings trend.

Finally, a business needs free cash flow to pay off debt; accounting profits just don't cut it. So we always check how much of that EBIT is translated into free cash flow. Over the most recent three years, Titagarh Wagons recorded free cash flow worth 68% 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

Neither Titagarh Wagons's ability handle its debt, based on its EBITDA, nor its interest cover gave us confidence in its ability to take on more debt. But its EBIT growth rate tells a very different story, and suggests some resilience. We think that Titagarh Wagons's debt does make it a bit risky, after considering the aforementioned data points together. Not all risk is bad, as it can boost share price returns if it pays off, but this debt risk is worth keeping in mind. 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. For example, we've discovered 2 warning signs for Titagarh Wagons (1 doesn't sit too well with us!) that you should be aware of before investing here.

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.