Does SkiStar (STO:SKIS B) Have A Healthy Balance Sheet?

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.' 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 SkiStar AB (publ) (STO:SKIS B) 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 common (but still painful) scenario is that it has to raise new equity capital at a low price, thus permanently diluting shareholders. By replacing dilution, though, debt can be an extremely good tool for businesses that need capital to invest in growth at high rates of return. The first step when considering a company's debt levels is to consider its cash and debt together.

View our latest analysis for SkiStar

What Is SkiStar's Net Debt?

As you can see below, at the end of May 2021, SkiStar had kr2.26b of debt, up from kr1.81b a year ago. Click the image for more detail. On the flip side, it has kr67.5m in cash leading to net debt of about kr2.19b.

A Look At SkiStar's Liabilities

The latest balance sheet data shows that SkiStar had liabilities of kr1.20b due within a year, and liabilities of kr2.54b falling due after that. On the other hand, it had cash of kr67.5m and kr188.4m worth of receivables due within a year. So it has liabilities totalling kr3.49b more than its cash and near-term receivables, combined.

SkiStar has a market capitalization of kr11.6b, so it could very likely raise cash to ameliorate its balance sheet, if the need arose. But we definitely want to keep our eyes open to indications that its debt is bringing too much risk.

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.

SkiStar's debt is 3.3 times its EBITDA, and its EBIT cover its interest expense 5.4 times over. This suggests that while the debt levels are significant, we'd stop short of calling them problematic. Unfortunately, SkiStar's EBIT flopped 17% over the last four quarters. If earnings continue to decline at that rate then handling the debt will be more difficult than taking three children under 5 to a fancy pants restaurant. The balance sheet is clearly the area to focus on when you are analysing debt. But ultimately the future profitability of the business will decide if SkiStar 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.

But our final consideration is also important, because a company cannot pay debt with paper profits; it needs cold hard cash. So the logical step is to look at the proportion of that EBIT that is matched by actual free cash flow. In the last three years, SkiStar's free cash flow amounted to 27% of its EBIT, less than we'd expect. That's not great, when it comes to paying down debt.

Our View

We'd go so far as to say SkiStar's EBIT growth rate was disappointing. Having said that, its ability to cover its interest expense with its EBIT isn't such a worry. Once we consider all the factors above, together, it seems to us that SkiStar's debt is making it a bit risky. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but we'd generally feel more comfortable with less leverage. 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. To that end, you should be aware of the 3 warning signs we've spotted with SkiStar .

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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