Keystone Realtors (NSE:RUSTOMJEE) Seems To Use Debt Rather Sparingly

The external fund manager backed by Berkshire Hathaway's Charlie Munger, Li Lu, makes no bones about it when he says 'The biggest investment risk is not the volatility of prices, but whether you will suffer a permanent loss of capital.' So it might be obvious that you need to consider debt, when you think about how risky any given stock is, because too much debt can sink a company. As with many other companies Keystone Realtors Limited (NSE:RUSTOMJEE) makes use of debt. But should shareholders be worried about its use of debt?

When Is Debt A Problem?

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 common (but still painful) scenario is that it has to raise new equity capital at a low price, thus permanently diluting shareholders. 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.

See our latest analysis for Keystone Realtors

What Is Keystone Realtors's Net Debt?

As you can see below, Keystone Realtors had ₹6.13b of debt at September 2023, down from ₹10.2b a year prior. However, it does have ₹4.75b in cash offsetting this, leading to net debt of about ₹1.38b.

How Healthy Is Keystone Realtors' Balance Sheet?

According to the last reported balance sheet, Keystone Realtors had liabilities of ₹18.4b due within 12 months, and liabilities of ₹2.82b due beyond 12 months. Offsetting these obligations, it had cash of ₹4.75b as well as receivables valued at ₹2.31b due within 12 months. So its liabilities total ₹14.1b more than the combination of its cash and short-term receivables.

Since publicly traded Keystone Realtors shares are worth a total of ₹78.0b, 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). Thus we consider debt relative to earnings both with and without depreciation and amortization expenses.

Keystone Realtors has net debt of just 0.83 times EBITDA, indicating that it is certainly not a reckless borrower. And it boasts interest cover of 8.6 times, which is more than adequate. In addition to that, we're happy to report that Keystone Realtors has boosted its EBIT by 72%, thus reducing the spectre of future debt repayments. There's no doubt that we learn most about debt from the balance sheet. But it is Keystone Realtors's earnings that will influence how the balance sheet holds up in the future. So when considering debt, it's definitely worth looking at the earnings trend. Click here for an interactive snapshot.

Finally, while the tax-man may adore accounting profits, lenders only accept cold hard cash. So we clearly need to look at whether that EBIT is leading to corresponding free cash flow. Happily for any shareholders, Keystone Realtors actually produced more free cash flow than EBIT over the last three years. That sort of strong cash generation warms our hearts like a puppy in a bumblebee suit.

Our View

Keystone Realtors's conversion of EBIT to free cash flow suggests it can handle its debt as easily as Cristiano Ronaldo could score a goal against an under 14's goalkeeper. And the good news does not stop there, as its EBIT growth rate also supports that impression! Overall, we don't think Keystone Realtors is taking any bad risks, as its debt load seems modest. So the balance sheet looks pretty healthy, to us. Over time, share prices tend to follow earnings per share, so if you're interested in Keystone Realtors, you may well want to click here to check an interactive graph of its earnings per share history.

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.