We Think Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (AMS:CCEP) Can Stay On Top Of Its Debt

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. We note that Coca-Cola Europacific Partners PLC (AMS:CCEP) does have debt on its balance sheet. But the more important question is: how much risk is that debt creating?

When Is Debt Dangerous?

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. 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. The first step when considering a company's debt levels is to consider its cash and debt together.

Check out our latest analysis for Coca-Cola Europacific Partners

How Much Debt Does Coca-Cola Europacific Partners Carry?

The image below, which you can click on for greater detail, shows that at December 2021 Coca-Cola Europacific Partners had debt of €13.1b, up from €6.82b in one year. However, it also had €1.47b in cash, and so its net debt is €11.7b.

A Look At Coca-Cola Europacific Partners' Liabilities

Zooming in on the latest balance sheet data, we can see that Coca-Cola Europacific Partners had liabilities of €6.09b due within 12 months and liabilities of €15.8b due beyond that. Offsetting this, it had €1.47b in cash and €2.49b in receivables that were due within 12 months. So it has liabilities totalling €17.9b more than its cash and near-term receivables, combined.

This deficit is considerable relative to its very significant market capitalization of €22.4b, so it does suggest shareholders should keep an eye on Coca-Cola Europacific Partners' use of debt. This suggests shareholders would be heavily diluted if the company needed to shore up its balance sheet in a hurry.

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). This way, we consider both the absolute quantum of the debt, as well as the interest rates paid on it.

Coca-Cola Europacific Partners has a debt to EBITDA ratio of 4.9, which signals significant debt, but is still pretty reasonable for most types of business. But its EBIT was about 12.7 times its interest expense, implying the company isn't really paying a high cost to maintain that level of debt. Even were the low cost to prove unsustainable, that is a good sign. It is well worth noting that Coca-Cola Europacific Partners's EBIT shot up like bamboo after rain, gaining 82% in the last twelve months. That'll make it easier to manage its debt. 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 Coca-Cola Europacific Partners can strengthen its balance sheet over time. So if you want to see what the professionals think, you might find this free report on analyst profit forecasts to be interesting.

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, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners 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

The good news is that Coca-Cola Europacific Partners's demonstrated ability to cover its interest expense with its EBIT delights us like a fluffy puppy does a toddler. But the stark truth is that we are concerned by its net debt to EBITDA. All these things considered, it appears that Coca-Cola Europacific Partners can comfortably handle its current debt levels. Of course, while this leverage can enhance returns on equity, it does bring more risk, so it's worth keeping an eye on this one. There's no doubt that we learn most about debt from the balance sheet. However, not all investment risk resides within the balance sheet - far from it. For example, we've discovered 2 warning signs for Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (1 is significant!) that you should be aware of before investing here.

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. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. 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.