Does Piovan (BIT:PVN) Have A 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 Piovan S.p.A. (BIT:PVN) makes use of debt. But the real question is whether this debt is making the company risky.

When Is Debt A Problem?

Debt assists a business until the business has trouble paying it off, either with new capital or with free cash flow. Part and parcel of capitalism is the process of 'creative destruction' where failed businesses are mercilessly liquidated by their bankers. 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. 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.

Check out our latest analysis for Piovan

What Is Piovan's Debt?

You can click the graphic below for the historical numbers, but it shows that as of September 2020 Piovan had €64.3m of debt, an increase on €55.0m, over one year. But on the other hand it also has €67.4m in cash, leading to a €3.12m net cash position.

How Strong Is Piovan's Balance Sheet?

Zooming in on the latest balance sheet data, we can see that Piovan had liabilities of €104.7m due within 12 months and liabilities of €40.3m due beyond that. Offsetting this, it had €67.4m in cash and €53.0m in receivables that were due within 12 months. So it has liabilities totalling €24.6m more than its cash and near-term receivables, combined.

Given Piovan has a market capitalization of €259.7m, it's hard to believe these liabilities pose much threat. But there are sufficient liabilities that we would certainly recommend shareholders continue to monitor the balance sheet, going forward. While it does have liabilities worth noting, Piovan also has more cash than debt, so we're pretty confident it can manage its debt safely.

The good news is that Piovan has increased its EBIT by 5.4% over twelve months, which should ease any concerns about debt repayment. The balance sheet is clearly the area to focus on when you are analysing debt. But ultimately the future profitability of the business will decide if Piovan 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.

But our final consideration is also important, because a company cannot pay debt with paper profits; it needs cold hard cash. While Piovan has net cash on its balance sheet, it's still worth taking a look at its ability to convert earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) to free cash flow, to help us understand how quickly it is building (or eroding) that cash balance. Looking at the most recent three years, Piovan recorded free cash flow of 41% of its EBIT, which is weaker than we'd expect. That weak cash conversion makes it more difficult to handle indebtedness.

Summing up

We could understand if investors are concerned about Piovan's liabilities, but we can be reassured by the fact it has has net cash of €3.12m. And it also grew its EBIT by 5.4% over the last year. So we don't have any problem with Piovan's use of debt. 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 instance, we've identified 2 warning signs for Piovan that you should be aware of.

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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