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, Daedong Gear Co., Ltd. (KOSDAQ:008830) does carry debt. But is this debt a concern to shareholders?
Why Does Debt Bring Risk?
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. Part and parcel of capitalism is the process of ‘creative destruction’ where failed businesses are mercilessly liquidated by their bankers. 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. When we think about a company’s use of debt, we first look at cash and debt together.
See our latest analysis for Daedong Gear
What Is Daedong Gear’s Debt?
As you can see below, Daedong Gear had ₩65.2b of debt, at March 2020, which is about the same as the year before. You can click the chart for greater detail. Net debt is about the same, since the it doesn’t have much cash.
How Strong Is Daedong Gear’s Balance Sheet?
Zooming in on the latest balance sheet data, we can see that Daedong Gear had liabilities of ₩105.4b due within 12 months and liabilities of ₩29.3b due beyond that. Offsetting these obligations, it had cash of ₩298.6m as well as receivables valued at ₩32.6b due within 12 months. So its liabilities total ₩101.8b more than the combination of its cash and short-term receivables.
The deficiency here weighs heavily on the ₩25.0b company itself, as if a child were struggling under the weight of an enormous back-pack full of books, his sports gear, and a trumpet. So we definitely think shareholders need to watch this one closely. After all, Daedong Gear would likely require a major re-capitalisation if it had to pay its creditors today.
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.
Daedong Gear shareholders face the double whammy of a high net debt to EBITDA ratio (7.7), and fairly weak interest coverage, since EBIT is just 1.2 times the interest expense. This means we’d consider it to have a heavy debt load. More concerning, Daedong Gear saw its EBIT drop by 8.5% in the last twelve months. If that earnings trend continues the company will face an uphill battle to pay off its debt. There’s no doubt that we learn most about debt from the balance sheet. But you can’t view debt in total isolation; since Daedong Gear will need earnings to service that debt. So when considering debt, it’s definitely worth looking at the earnings trend. Click here for an interactive snapshot.
Finally, a business needs free cash flow to pay off debt; accounting profits just don’t cut it. So it’s worth checking how much of that EBIT is backed by free cash flow. Considering the last three years, Daedong Gear actually recorded a cash outflow, overall. Debt is usually more expensive, and almost always more risky in the hands of a company with negative free cash flow. Shareholders ought to hope for an improvement.
Our View
On the face of it, Daedong Gear’s interest cover left us tentative about the stock, and its level of total liabilities was no more enticing than the one empty restaurant on the busiest night of the year. And furthermore, its conversion of EBIT to free cash flow also fails to instill confidence. Considering all the factors previously mentioned, we think that Daedong Gear really is carrying too much debt. To us, that makes the stock rather risky, like walking through a dog park with your eyes closed. But some investors may feel differently. 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. Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We’ve identified 1 warning sign with Daedong Gear , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.
When all is said and done, sometimes its easier to focus on companies that don’t even need debt. Readers can access a list of growth stocks with zero net debt 100% free, right now.
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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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