Delko (WSE:DEL) Seems To Use Debt Quite Sensibly

Warren Buffett famously said, 'Volatility is far from synonymous with risk.' So it might be obvious that you need to consider debt, when you think about how risky any given stock is, because too much debt can sink a company. As with many other companies Delko S.A. (WSE:DEL) makes use of debt. But the real question is whether this debt is making the company risky.

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. 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 thing to do when considering how much debt a business uses is to look at its cash and debt together.

See our latest analysis for Delko

What Is Delko's Debt?

You can click the graphic below for the historical numbers, but it shows that Delko had zł59.8m of debt in September 2020, down from zł71.2m, one year before. However, it does have zł6.24m in cash offsetting this, leading to net debt of about zł53.6m.

How Strong Is Delko's Balance Sheet?

Zooming in on the latest balance sheet data, we can see that Delko had liabilities of zł131.8m due within 12 months and liabilities of zł30.0m due beyond that. Offsetting these obligations, it had cash of zł6.24m as well as receivables valued at zł75.0m due within 12 months. So its liabilities total zł80.5m more than the combination of its cash and short-term receivables.

This is a mountain of leverage relative to its market capitalization of zł93.3m. Should its lenders demand that it shore up the balance sheet, shareholders would likely face severe 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.

Delko's net debt is only 1.5 times its EBITDA. And its EBIT covers its interest expense a whopping 13.7 times over. So you could argue it is no more threatened by its debt than an elephant is by a mouse. Also good is that Delko grew its EBIT at 20% over the last year, further increasing its ability to manage debt. When analysing debt levels, the balance sheet is the obvious place to start. But you can't view debt in total isolation; since Delko 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, while the tax-man may adore accounting profits, lenders only accept cold hard cash. So we clearly need to look at whether that EBIT is leading to corresponding free cash flow. Over the last three years, Delko actually produced more free cash flow than EBIT. There's nothing better than incoming cash when it comes to staying in your lenders' good graces.

Our View

Delko's interest cover suggests it can handle its debt as easily as Cristiano Ronaldo could score a goal against an under 14's goalkeeper. But, on a more sombre note, we are a little concerned by its level of total liabilities. All these things considered, it appears that Delko 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. Be aware that Delko is showing 4 warning signs in our investment analysis , you should know about...

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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