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.' So it seems the smart money knows that debt - which is usually involved in bankruptcies - is a very important factor, when you assess how risky a company is. As with many other companies SG Company S.p.A. (BIT:SGC) makes use of debt. But should shareholders be worried about its use of debt?
When Is Debt A Problem?
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. 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. 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.
Check out our latest analysis for SG
What Is SG's Net Debt?
The image below, which you can click on for greater detail, shows that SG had debt of €4.40m at the end of June 2020, a reduction from €6.05m over a year. However, it does have €1.99m in cash offsetting this, leading to net debt of about €2.41m.
How Healthy Is SG's Balance Sheet?
We can see from the most recent balance sheet that SG had liabilities of €9.88m falling due within a year, and liabilities of €3.30m due beyond that. Offsetting this, it had €1.99m in cash and €6.52m in receivables that were due within 12 months. So its liabilities outweigh the sum of its cash and (near-term) receivables by €4.67m.
This is a mountain of leverage relative to its market capitalization of €5.20m. Should its lenders demand that it shore up the balance sheet, shareholders would likely face severe dilution. The balance sheet is clearly the area to focus on when you are analysing debt. But it is SG's earnings that will influence how the balance sheet holds up in the future. So if you're keen to discover more about its earnings, it might be worth checking out this graph of its long term earnings trend.
In the last year SG had a loss before interest and tax, and actually shrunk its revenue by 27%, to €26m. That makes us nervous, to say the least.
Caveat Emptor
While SG's falling revenue is about as heartwarming as a wet blanket, arguably its earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) loss is even less appealing. Indeed, it lost a very considerable €2.9m at the EBIT level. Considering that alongside the liabilities mentioned above does not give us much confidence that company should be using so much debt. So we think its balance sheet is a little strained, though not beyond repair. However, it doesn't help that it burned through €2.5m of cash over the last year. So suffice it to say we consider the stock very risky. 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. Case in point: We've spotted 6 warning signs for SG you should be aware of, and 2 of them shouldn't be ignored.
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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About BIT:SGC
SG
Provides live and digital communication services for business to business, business to consumer, and below the line markets.
Undervalued with high growth potential.
