Is Ruby Mills (NSE:RUBYMILLS) 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.' 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. As with many other companies The Ruby Mills Limited (NSE:RUBYMILLS) makes use of debt. But the real question is whether this debt is making the company risky.

When Is Debt Dangerous?

Generally speaking, debt only becomes a real problem when a company can't easily pay it off, either by raising capital or with its own cash flow. In the worst case scenario, a company can go bankrupt if it cannot pay its creditors. 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. When we examine debt levels, we first consider both cash and debt levels, together.

View our latest analysis for Ruby Mills

How Much Debt Does Ruby Mills Carry?

The chart below, which you can click on for greater detail, shows that Ruby Mills had ₹3.81b in debt in March 2021; about the same as the year before. However, because it has a cash reserve of ₹1.17b, its net debt is less, at about ₹2.65b.

How Strong Is Ruby Mills' Balance Sheet?

Zooming in on the latest balance sheet data, we can see that Ruby Mills had liabilities of ₹2.02b due within 12 months and liabilities of ₹3.47b due beyond that. On the other hand, it had cash of ₹1.17b and ₹155.0m worth of receivables due within a year. So its liabilities total ₹4.17b more than the combination of its cash and short-term receivables.

This is a mountain of leverage relative to its market capitalization of ₹4.70b. This suggests shareholders would be heavily diluted if the company needed to shore up its balance sheet in a hurry.

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). 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).

With a net debt to EBITDA ratio of 6.9, it's fair to say Ruby Mills does have a significant amount of debt. However, its interest coverage of 3.8 is reasonably strong, which is a good sign. Even more troubling is the fact that Ruby Mills actually let its EBIT decrease by 9.5% over the last year. If it keeps going like that paying off its debt will be like running on a treadmill -- a lot of effort for not much advancement. When analysing debt levels, the balance sheet is the obvious place to start. But it is Ruby Mills'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 clearly need to look at whether that EBIT is leading to corresponding free cash flow. In the last three years, Ruby Mills's free cash flow amounted to 37% of its EBIT, less than we'd expect. That's not great, when it comes to paying down debt.

Our View

Mulling over Ruby Mills's attempt at managing its debt, based on its EBITDA,, we're certainly not enthusiastic. Having said that, its ability to convert EBIT to free cash flow isn't such a worry. Overall, it seems to us that Ruby Mills's balance sheet is really quite a risk to the business. 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 learn about the 5 warning signs we've spotted with Ruby Mills (including 2 which are a bit concerning) .

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.
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