Is TV18 Broadcast (NSE:TV18BRDCST) Using Too Much Debt?

Legendary fund manager Li Lu (who Charlie Munger backed) once said, 'The biggest investment risk is not the volatility of prices, but whether you will suffer a permanent loss of capital.' 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, TV18 Broadcast Limited (NSE:TV18BRDCST) does carry debt. But the more important question is: how much risk is that debt creating?

When Is Debt A Problem?

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. While that is not too common, we often do see indebted companies permanently diluting shareholders because lenders force them to raise capital at a distressed price. 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. The first step when considering a company's debt levels is to consider its cash and debt together.

See our latest analysis for TV18 Broadcast

What Is TV18 Broadcast's Debt?

As you can see below, TV18 Broadcast had ₹14.9b of debt at September 2020, down from ₹17.8b a year prior. On the flip side, it has ₹3.67b in cash leading to net debt of about ₹11.2b.

A Look At TV18 Broadcast's Liabilities

We can see from the most recent balance sheet that TV18 Broadcast had liabilities of ₹32.3b falling due within a year, and liabilities of ₹2.00b due beyond that. Offsetting these obligations, it had cash of ₹3.67b as well as receivables valued at ₹18.9b due within 12 months. So its liabilities total ₹11.7b more than the combination of its cash and short-term receivables.

Since publicly traded TV18 Broadcast shares are worth a total of ₹58.9b, it seems unlikely that this level of liabilities would be a major threat. But there are sufficient liabilities that we would certainly recommend shareholders continue to monitor the balance sheet, going forward.

We measure a company's debt load relative to its earnings power by looking at its net debt divided by its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) and by calculating how easily its earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) cover its interest expense (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).

TV18 Broadcast's net debt to EBITDA ratio of about 1.7 suggests only moderate use of debt. And its strong interest cover of 11.8 times, makes us even more comfortable. Importantly, TV18 Broadcast grew its EBIT by 72% over the last twelve months, and that growth will make it easier to handle its debt. There's no doubt that we learn most about debt from the balance sheet. But it is future earnings, more than anything, that will determine TV18 Broadcast'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, while the tax-man may adore accounting profits, lenders only accept cold hard cash. So we always check how much of that EBIT is translated into free cash flow. In the last three years, TV18 Broadcast'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

The good news is that TV18 Broadcast's demonstrated ability to grow 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. Taking all this data into account, it seems to us that TV18 Broadcast takes a pretty sensible approach to debt. While that brings some risk, it can also enhance returns for shareholders. Over time, share prices tend to follow earnings per share, so if you're interested in TV18 Broadcast, you may well want to click here to check an interactive graph of its earnings per share history.

If you're interested in investing in businesses that can grow profits without the burden of debt, then check out this free list of growing businesses that have net cash on the balance sheet.

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