Savers Value Village (NYSE:SVV) Takes On Some Risk With Its Use Of Debt

David Iben put it well when he said, 'Volatility is not a risk we care about. What we care about is avoiding the 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. As with many other companies Savers Value Village, Inc. (NYSE:SVV) makes use of debt. But the real question is whether this debt is making the company risky.

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When Is Debt A Problem?

Debt assists a business until the business has trouble paying it off, either with new capital or with free cash flow. If things get really bad, the lenders can take control of the business. However, a more usual (but still expensive) situation is where a company must dilute shareholders at a cheap share price simply to get debt under control. Of course, plenty of companies use debt to fund growth, without any negative consequences. When we think about a company's use of debt, we first look at cash and debt together.

How Much Debt Does Savers Value Village Carry?

The image below, which you can click on for greater detail, shows that Savers Value Village had debt of US$741.1m at the end of December 2024, a reduction from US$789.1m over a year. However, because it has a cash reserve of US$150.0m, its net debt is less, at about US$591.2m.

A Look At Savers Value Village's Liabilities

According to the last reported balance sheet, Savers Value Village had liabilities of US$231.1m due within 12 months, and liabilities of US$1.23b due beyond 12 months. Offsetting these obligations, it had cash of US$150.0m as well as receivables valued at US$16.8m due within 12 months. So its liabilities total US$1.30b more than the combination of its cash and short-term receivables.

This deficit is considerable relative to its market capitalization of US$1.32b, so it does suggest shareholders should keep an eye on Savers Value Village's use of debt. This suggests shareholders would be heavily diluted if the company needed to shore up its balance sheet in a hurry.

See our latest analysis for Savers Value Village

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). Thus we consider debt relative to earnings both with and without depreciation and amortization expenses.

While Savers Value Village's debt to EBITDA ratio (2.9) suggests that it uses some debt, its interest cover is very weak, at 2.2, suggesting high leverage. It seems clear that the cost of borrowing money is negatively impacting returns for shareholders, of late. More concerning, Savers Value Village saw its EBIT drop by 5.3% in the last twelve months. If it keeps going like that paying off its debt will be like running on a treadmill -- a lot of effort for not much advancement. 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 Savers Value Village 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 we always check how much of that EBIT is translated into free cash flow. Looking at the most recent three years, Savers Value Village recorded free cash flow of 35% of its EBIT, which is weaker than we'd expect. That weak cash conversion makes it more difficult to handle indebtedness.

Our View

To be frank both Savers Value Village's level of total liabilities and its track record of covering its interest expense with its EBIT make us rather uncomfortable with its debt levels. Having said that, its ability to convert EBIT to free cash flow isn't such a worry. Overall, we think it's fair to say that Savers Value Village has enough debt that there are some real risks around the balance sheet. If all goes well, that should boost returns, but on the flip side, the risk of permanent capital loss is elevated by the debt. 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. These risks can be hard to spot. Every company has them, and we've spotted 2 warning signs for Savers Value Village (of which 1 is a bit unpleasant!) you should know about.

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.