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Warren Buffett famously said, 'Volatility is far from synonymous with risk.' 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. Importantly, Nilkamal Limited (NSE:NILKAMAL) does carry debt. But is this debt a concern to shareholders?
Why Does Debt Bring Risk?
Debt is a tool to help businesses grow, but if a business is incapable of paying off its lenders, then it exists at their mercy. 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 Nilkamal
What Is Nilkamal's Debt?
You can click the graphic below for the historical numbers, but it shows that Nilkamal had ₹588.6m of debt in March 2019, down from ₹931.7m, one year before. However, it does have ₹173.3m in cash offsetting this, leading to net debt of about ₹415.3m.
A Look At Nilkamal's Liabilities
We can see from the most recent balance sheet that Nilkamal had liabilities of ₹2.16b falling due within a year, and liabilities of ₹1.29b due beyond that. On the other hand, it had cash of ₹173.3m and ₹3.33b worth of receivables due within a year. So its total liabilities are just about perfectly matched by its shorter-term, liquid assets.
This state of affairs indicates that Nilkamal's balance sheet looks quite solid, as its total liabilities are just about equal to its liquid assets. So it's very unlikely that the ₹19.1b company is short on cash, but still worth keeping an eye on the balance sheet.
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.
Nilkamal has a low net debt to EBITDA ratio of only 0.19. And its EBIT easily covers its interest expense, being 13.5 times the size. So we're pretty relaxed about its super-conservative use of debt. On the other hand, Nilkamal saw its EBIT drop by 8.6% in the last twelve months. If earnings continue to decline at that rate the company may have increasing difficulty managing its debt load. 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 Nilkamal 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.