Is Cortina Holdings (SGX:C41) Using Too Much Debt?

Warren Buffett famously said, 'Volatility is far from synonymous with risk.' 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 can see that Cortina Holdings Limited (SGX:C41) does use debt in its business. But should shareholders be worried about its use of debt?

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. If things get really bad, the lenders can take control of the business. 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, 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. When we think about a company's use of debt, we first look at cash and debt together.

Check out our latest analysis for Cortina Holdings

How Much Debt Does Cortina Holdings Carry?

The image below, which you can click on for greater detail, shows that at September 2021 Cortina Holdings had debt of S$26.4m, up from S$14.9m in one year. But it also has S$160.2m in cash to offset that, meaning it has S$133.8m net cash.

A Look At Cortina Holdings' Liabilities

According to the last reported balance sheet, Cortina Holdings had liabilities of S$149.1m due within 12 months, and liabilities of S$100.7m due beyond 12 months. Offsetting these obligations, it had cash of S$160.2m as well as receivables valued at S$30.9m due within 12 months. So its liabilities total S$58.7m more than the combination of its cash and short-term receivables.

Of course, Cortina Holdings has a market capitalization of S$695.4m, so these liabilities are probably manageable. But there are sufficient liabilities that we would certainly recommend shareholders continue to monitor the balance sheet, going forward. Despite its noteworthy liabilities, Cortina Holdings boasts net cash, so it's fair to say it does not have a heavy debt load!

On top of that, Cortina Holdings grew its EBIT by 60% over the last twelve months, and that growth will make it easier to handle its debt. There's no doubt that we learn most about debt from the balance sheet. But it is Cortina Holdings's earnings that will influence how the balance sheet holds up in the future. So if you're keen to discover more about its earnings, it might be worth checking out this graph of its long term earnings trend.

Finally, a company can only pay off debt with cold hard cash, not accounting profits. Cortina Holdings may have net cash on the balance sheet, but it is still interesting to look at how well the business converts its earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) to free cash flow, because that will influence both its need for, and its capacity to manage debt. Happily for any shareholders, Cortina Holdings actually produced more free cash flow than EBIT over the last three years. That sort of strong cash generation warms our hearts like a puppy in a bumblebee suit.

Summing up

We could understand if investors are concerned about Cortina Holdings's liabilities, but we can be reassured by the fact it has has net cash of S$133.8m. And it impressed us with free cash flow of S$108m, being 169% of its EBIT. So is Cortina Holdings's debt a risk? It doesn't seem so to us. 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 instance, we've identified 1 warning sign for Cortina Holdings that you should be aware of.

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.

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.

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