Is Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) Using Too Much Debt?

The external fund manager backed by Berkshire Hathaway's Charlie Munger, Li Lu, makes no bones about it when he says 'The biggest investment risk is not the volatility of prices, but whether you will suffer a permanent loss of capital.' So it seems the smart money knows that debt - which is usually involved in bankruptcies - is a very important factor, when you assess how risky a company is. As with many other companies Sonoco Products Company (NYSE:SON) makes use of debt. But the more important question is: how much risk is that debt creating?

When Is Debt A Problem?

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 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, debt can be an important tool in businesses, particularly capital heavy businesses. 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 Sonoco Products

How Much Debt Does Sonoco Products Carry?

The image below, which you can click on for greater detail, shows that Sonoco Products had debt of US$1.55b at the end of December 2021, a reduction from US$1.66b over a year. However, it also had US$171.0m in cash, and so its net debt is US$1.38b.

How Strong Is Sonoco Products' Balance Sheet?

Zooming in on the latest balance sheet data, we can see that Sonoco Products had liabilities of US$1.53b due within 12 months and liabilities of US$1.70b due beyond that. Offsetting these obligations, it had cash of US$171.0m as well as receivables valued at US$851.6m due within 12 months. So it has liabilities totalling US$2.20b more than its cash and near-term receivables, combined.

Sonoco Products has a market capitalization of US$6.20b, 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. When analysing debt levels, the balance sheet is the obvious place to start. But it is future earnings, more than anything, that will determine Sonoco Products's ability to maintain a healthy balance sheet going forward. So if you're focused on the future you can check out this free report showing analyst profit forecasts.

Over 12 months, Sonoco Products reported revenue of US$5.6b, which is a gain of 6.7%, although it did not report any earnings before interest and tax. We usually like to see faster growth from unprofitable companies, but each to their own.

Caveat Emptor

Importantly, Sonoco Products had an earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) loss over the last year. To be specific the EBIT loss came in at US$46m. When we look at that and recall the liabilities on its balance sheet, relative to cash, it seems unwise to us for the company to have any debt. Quite frankly we think the balance sheet is far from match-fit, although it could be improved with time. For example, we would not want to see a repeat of last year's loss of US$85m. So we do think this stock is quite risky. When analysing debt levels, the balance sheet is the obvious place to start. However, not all investment risk resides within the balance sheet - far from it. Case in point: We've spotted 2 warning signs for Sonoco Products you should be aware of.

If you're interested in investing in businesses that can grow profits without the burden of debt, then check out this free list of growing businesses that have net cash on the balance sheet.

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