These 4 Measures Indicate That Aalberts (AMS:AALB) Is Using Debt Reasonably Well

Some say volatility, rather than debt, is the best way to think about risk as an investor, but Warren Buffett famously said that 'Volatility is far from synonymous with risk.' When we think about how risky a company is, we always like to look at its use of debt, since debt overload can lead to ruin. We note that Aalberts N.V. (AMS:AALB) does have debt on its balance sheet. But the more important question is: how much risk is that debt creating?

What Risk Does Debt Bring?

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. In the worst case scenario, a company can go bankrupt if it cannot pay its creditors. However, a more common (but still painful) scenario is that it has to raise new equity capital at a low price, thus permanently diluting shareholders. 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 Aalberts

What Is Aalberts's Net Debt?

The image below, which you can click on for greater detail, shows that Aalberts had debt of €507.9m at the end of December 2020, a reduction from €645.8m over a year. However, it also had €55.8m in cash, and so its net debt is €452.1m.

A Look At Aalberts' Liabilities

According to the last reported balance sheet, Aalberts had liabilities of €861.4m due within 12 months, and liabilities of €587.5m due beyond 12 months. Offsetting these obligations, it had cash of €55.8m as well as receivables valued at €348.0m due within 12 months. So its liabilities outweigh the sum of its cash and (near-term) receivables by €1.05b.

While this might seem like a lot, it is not so bad since Aalberts has a market capitalization of €5.01b, and so it could probably strengthen its balance sheet by raising capital if it needed to. However, it is still worthwhile taking a close look at its ability to pay off debt.

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). 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).

Aalberts has a low net debt to EBITDA ratio of only 1.3. And its EBIT easily covers its interest expense, being 11.6 times the size. So you could argue it is no more threatened by its debt than an elephant is by a mouse. In fact Aalberts's saving grace is its low debt levels, because its EBIT has tanked 24% in the last twelve months. When it comes to paying off debt, falling earnings are no more useful than sugary sodas are for your health. There's no doubt that we learn most about debt from the balance sheet. But ultimately the future profitability of the business will decide if Aalberts can strengthen its balance sheet over time. So if you're focused on the future you can check out this free report showing analyst profit forecasts.

Finally, a business needs free cash flow to pay off debt; accounting profits just don't cut it. So the logical step is to look at the proportion of that EBIT that is matched by actual free cash flow. During the last three years, Aalberts generated free cash flow amounting to a very robust 87% of its EBIT, more than we'd expect. That puts it in a very strong position to pay down debt.

Our View

Based on what we've seen Aalberts is not finding it easy, given its EBIT growth rate, but the other factors we considered give us cause to be optimistic. There's no doubt that its ability to to convert EBIT to free cash flow is pretty flash. When we consider all the elements mentioned above, it seems to us that Aalberts is managing its debt quite well. Having said that, the load is sufficiently heavy that we would recommend any shareholders keep a close eye on it. The balance sheet is clearly the area to focus on when you are analysing debt. However, not all investment risk resides within the balance sheet - far from it. For example - Aalberts has 1 warning sign we think you should be aware of.

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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