Here's Why Focus Point Holdings Berhad (KLSE:FOCUSP) Can Manage Its Debt Responsibly

David Iben put it well when he said, 'Volatility is not a risk we care about. What we care about is avoiding the 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. We note that Focus Point Holdings Berhad (KLSE:FOCUSP) does have debt on its balance sheet. But is this debt a concern to shareholders?

Why Does Debt Bring Risk?

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. However, a more usual (but still expensive) situation is where a company must dilute shareholders at a cheap share price simply to get debt under control. 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. When we think about a company's use of debt, we first look at cash and debt together.

Check out our latest analysis for Focus Point Holdings Berhad

What Is Focus Point Holdings Berhad's Debt?

The image below, which you can click on for greater detail, shows that Focus Point Holdings Berhad had debt of RM23.9m at the end of December 2020, a reduction from RM27.7m over a year. However, because it has a cash reserve of RM17.9m, its net debt is less, at about RM5.99m.

How Healthy Is Focus Point Holdings Berhad's Balance Sheet?

The latest balance sheet data shows that Focus Point Holdings Berhad had liabilities of RM74.4m due within a year, and liabilities of RM45.0m falling due after that. Offsetting this, it had RM17.9m in cash and RM26.4m in receivables that were due within 12 months. So its liabilities total RM75.1m more than the combination of its cash and short-term receivables.

This deficit isn't so bad because Focus Point Holdings Berhad is worth RM283.8m, and thus could probably raise enough capital to shore up its balance sheet, if the need arose. But it's clear that we should definitely closely examine whether it can manage its debt without dilution.

In order to size up a company's debt relative to its earnings, we calculate its net debt divided by its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) and its earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) divided by its interest expense (its interest cover). The advantage of this approach is that we take into account both the absolute quantum of debt (with net debt to EBITDA) and the actual interest expenses associated with that debt (with its interest cover ratio).

Focus Point Holdings Berhad has a very low debt to EBITDA ratio of 0.36 so it is strange to see weak interest coverage, with last year's EBIT being only 1.7 times the interest expense. So while we're not necessarily alarmed we think that its debt is far from trivial. Shareholders should be aware that Focus Point Holdings Berhad's EBIT was down 58% last year. If that earnings trend continues then paying off its debt will be about as easy as herding cats on to a roller coaster. The balance sheet is clearly the area to focus on when you are analysing debt. But it is future earnings, more than anything, that will determine Focus Point Holdings Berhad's ability to maintain a healthy balance sheet going forward. So if you're focused on the future you can check out this free report showing analyst profit forecasts.

Finally, while the tax-man may adore accounting profits, lenders only accept cold hard cash. So it's worth checking how much of that EBIT is backed by free cash flow. Happily for any shareholders, Focus Point Holdings Berhad actually produced more free cash flow than EBIT over the last three years. That sort of strong cash conversion gets us as excited as the crowd when the beat drops at a Daft Punk concert.

Our View

Focus Point Holdings Berhad's EBIT growth rate was a real negative on this analysis, as was its interest cover. But its conversion of EBIT to free cash flow was significantly redeeming. We would also note that Healthcare industry companies like Focus Point Holdings Berhad commonly do use debt without problems. When we consider all the factors mentioned above, we do feel a bit cautious about Focus Point Holdings Berhad's use of debt. While debt does have its upside in higher potential returns, we think shareholders should definitely consider how debt levels might make the stock more risky. When analysing debt levels, the balance sheet is the obvious place to start. However, not all investment risk resides within the balance sheet - far from it. Be aware that Focus Point Holdings Berhad is showing 3 warning signs in our investment analysis , you should know about...

At the end of the day, it's often better to focus on companies that are free from net debt. You can access our special list of such companies (all with a track record of profit growth). It's free.

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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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