These 4 Measures Indicate That Gujarat State Petronet (NSE:GSPL) Is Using Debt Safely

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.' 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. We can see that Gujarat State Petronet Limited (NSE:GSPL) does use debt in its business. But is this debt a concern to shareholders?

What Risk Does Debt Bring?

Debt and other liabilities become risky for a business when it cannot easily fulfill those obligations, either with free cash flow or by raising capital at an attractive price. Ultimately, if the company can't fulfill its legal obligations to repay debt, shareholders could walk away with nothing. 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 Gujarat State Petronet

What Is Gujarat State Petronet's Debt?

You can click the graphic below for the historical numbers, but it shows that Gujarat State Petronet had ₹10.0b of debt in September 2021, down from ₹20.4b, one year before. On the flip side, it has ₹6.95b in cash leading to net debt of about ₹3.08b.

How Strong Is Gujarat State Petronet's Balance Sheet?

Zooming in on the latest balance sheet data, we can see that Gujarat State Petronet had liabilities of ₹31.0b due within 12 months and liabilities of ₹20.8b due beyond that. Offsetting this, it had ₹6.95b in cash and ₹9.47b in receivables that were due within 12 months. So it has liabilities totalling ₹35.4b more than its cash and near-term receivables, combined.

Of course, Gujarat State Petronet has a market capitalization of ₹177.5b, so these liabilities are probably manageable. Having said that, it's clear that we should continue to monitor its balance sheet, lest it change for the worse.

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

Gujarat State Petronet has very little debt (net of cash), and boasts a debt to EBITDA ratio of 0.081 and EBIT of 43.2 times the interest expense. So relative to past earnings, the debt load seems trivial. Also positive, Gujarat State Petronet grew its EBIT by 21% in the last year, and that should make it easier to pay down debt, going forward. 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 Gujarat State Petronet's ability to maintain a healthy balance sheet going forward. So if you want to see what the professionals think, you might find this free report on analyst profit forecasts to be interesting.

Finally, a company can only pay off debt with cold hard cash, not accounting profits. So we always check how much of that EBIT is translated into free cash flow. Over the most recent three years, Gujarat State Petronet recorded free cash flow worth 71% of its EBIT, which is around normal, given free cash flow excludes interest and tax. This cold hard cash means it can reduce its debt when it wants to.

Our View

Gujarat State Petronet's interest cover suggests it can handle its debt as easily as Cristiano Ronaldo could score a goal against an under 14's goalkeeper. And that's just the beginning of the good news since its net debt to EBITDA is also very heartening. It's also worth noting that Gujarat State Petronet is in the Gas Utilities industry, which is often considered to be quite defensive. Overall, we don't think Gujarat State Petronet is taking any bad risks, as its debt load seems modest. So the balance sheet looks pretty healthy, to us. 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. For example, we've discovered 1 warning sign for Gujarat State Petronet that you should be aware of before investing here.

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.