Does Perak Transit Berhad (KLSE:PTRANS) Have A Healthy Balance Sheet?

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. As with many other companies Perak Transit Berhad (KLSE:PTRANS) makes use of debt. But the more important question is: how much risk is that debt creating?

When Is Debt Dangerous?

Debt is a tool to help businesses grow, but if a business is incapable of paying off its lenders, then it exists at their mercy. In the worst case scenario, a company can go bankrupt if it cannot pay its creditors. 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, plenty of companies use debt to fund growth, without any negative consequences. The first step when considering a company's debt levels is to consider its cash and debt together.

See our latest analysis for Perak Transit Berhad

What Is Perak Transit Berhad's Debt?

As you can see below, Perak Transit Berhad had RM222.0m of debt at December 2020, down from RM300.0m a year prior. However, it does have RM12.3m in cash offsetting this, leading to net debt of about RM209.7m.

A Look At Perak Transit Berhad's Liabilities

Zooming in on the latest balance sheet data, we can see that Perak Transit Berhad had liabilities of RM54.0m due within 12 months and liabilities of RM205.6m due beyond that. On the other hand, it had cash of RM12.3m and RM47.0m worth of receivables due within a year. So it has liabilities totalling RM200.3m more than its cash and near-term receivables, combined.

Perak Transit Berhad has a market capitalization of RM469.7m, so it could very likely raise cash to ameliorate 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.

We measure a company's debt load relative to its earnings power by looking at its net debt divided by its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) and by calculating how easily its earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) cover its interest expense (interest cover). Thus we consider debt relative to earnings both with and without depreciation and amortization expenses.

Perak Transit Berhad's debt is 2.7 times its EBITDA, and its EBIT cover its interest expense 4.9 times over. Taken together this implies that, while we wouldn't want to see debt levels rise, we think it can handle its current leverage. Also relevant is that Perak Transit Berhad has grown its EBIT by a very respectable 21% in the last year, thus enhancing its ability to pay down debt. 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 Perak Transit 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, a company can only pay off debt with cold hard cash, not accounting profits. So we clearly need to look at whether that EBIT is leading to corresponding free cash flow. During the last three years, Perak Transit Berhad burned a lot of cash. While that may be a result of expenditure for growth, it does make the debt far more risky.

Our View

Perak Transit Berhad's struggle to convert EBIT to free cash flow had us second guessing its balance sheet strength, but the other data-points we considered were relatively redeeming. In particular, its EBIT growth rate was re-invigorating. When we consider all the factors discussed, it seems to us that Perak Transit Berhad is taking some risks with its use of debt. So while that leverage does boost returns on equity, we wouldn't really want to see it increase from here. 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. These risks can be hard to spot. Every company has them, and we've spotted 3 warning signs for Perak Transit Berhad you should know about.

Of course, if you're the type of investor who prefers buying stocks without the burden of debt, then don't hesitate to discover our exclusive list of net cash growth stocks, today.

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