Sagar Cements (NSE:SAGCEM) Has A Pretty Healthy Balance Sheet

Howard Marks put it nicely when he said that, rather than worrying about share price volatility, 'The possibility of permanent loss is the risk I worry about... and every practical investor I know worries about.' 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. As with many other companies Sagar Cements Limited (NSE:SAGCEM) makes use of debt. But the more important question is: how much risk is that debt creating?

Why Does Debt Bring Risk?

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. 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. When we examine debt levels, we first consider both cash and debt levels, together.

See our latest analysis for Sagar Cements

What Is Sagar Cements's Debt?

You can click the graphic below for the historical numbers, but it shows that as of September 2020 Sagar Cements had ₹4.64b of debt, an increase on ₹4.34b, over one year. On the flip side, it has ₹773.0m in cash leading to net debt of about ₹3.86b.

A Look At Sagar Cements' Liabilities

Zooming in on the latest balance sheet data, we can see that Sagar Cements had liabilities of ₹4.78b due within 12 months and liabilities of ₹4.89b due beyond that. Offsetting these obligations, it had cash of ₹773.0m as well as receivables valued at ₹1.47b due within 12 months. So its liabilities total ₹7.43b more than the combination of its cash and short-term receivables.

While this might seem like a lot, it is not so bad since Sagar Cements has a market capitalization of ₹16.4b, and so it could probably strengthen its balance sheet by raising capital if it needed to. However, it is still worthwhile taking a close look at its ability to pay off debt.

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). Thus we consider debt relative to earnings both with and without depreciation and amortization expenses.

With net debt sitting at just 1.1 times EBITDA, Sagar Cements is arguably pretty conservatively geared. And this view is supported by the solid interest coverage, with EBIT coming in at 7.0 times the interest expense over the last year. Even more impressive was the fact that Sagar Cements grew its EBIT by 108% over twelve months. If maintained that growth will make the debt even more manageable in the years ahead. There's no doubt that we learn most about debt from the balance sheet. But ultimately the future profitability of the business will decide if Sagar Cements can strengthen its balance sheet over time. So if you want to see what the professionals think, you might find this free report on analyst profit forecasts to be interesting.

Finally, while the tax-man may adore accounting profits, lenders only accept cold hard cash. So the logical step is to look at the proportion of that EBIT that is matched by actual free cash flow. Considering the last three years, Sagar Cements actually recorded a cash outflow, overall. Debt is usually more expensive, and almost always more risky in the hands of a company with negative free cash flow. Shareholders ought to hope for an improvement.

Our View

When it comes to the balance sheet, the standout positive for Sagar Cements was the fact that it seems able to grow its EBIT confidently. But the other factors we noted above weren't so encouraging. In particular, conversion of EBIT to free cash flow gives us cold feet. When we consider all the factors mentioned above, we do feel a bit cautious about Sagar Cements's use of debt. While we appreciate debt can enhance returns on equity, we'd suggest that shareholders keep close watch on its debt levels, lest they increase. 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. For instance, we've identified 2 warning signs for Sagar Cements that you should be aware of.

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. 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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