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Yahoo Finance Plus Does Proeduca Altus (BME:PRO) Have A Healthy Balance Sheet?
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. Importantly, Proeduca Altus, S.A. (BME:PRO) does carry debt. But the real question is whether this debt is making the company risky.
When Is Debt A Problem?
Generally speaking, debt only becomes a real problem when a company can't easily pay it off, either by raising capital or with its own cash flow. Ultimately, if the company can't fulfill its legal obligations to repay debt, shareholders could walk away with nothing. 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, debt can be an important tool in businesses, particularly capital heavy businesses. The first step when considering a company's debt levels is to consider its cash and debt together.
See our latest analysis for Proeduca Altus
What Is Proeduca Altus's Debt?
As you can see below, Proeduca Altus had €34.6k of debt at February 2019, down from €7.54m a year prior. However, it does have €74.3m in cash offsetting this, leading to net cash of €74.3m.
How Healthy Is Proeduca Altus's Balance Sheet?
According to the last reported balance sheet, Proeduca Altus had liabilities of €93.1m due within 12 months, and liabilities of €778.5k due beyond 12 months. On the other hand, it had cash of €74.3m and €20.5m 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 Proeduca Altus's balance sheet looks quite solid, as its total liabilities are just about equal to its liquid assets. So while it's hard to imagine that the €331.8m company is struggling for cash, we still think it's worth monitoring its balance sheet. Succinctly put, Proeduca Altus boasts net cash, so it's fair to say it does not have a heavy debt load!
In addition to that, we're happy to report that Proeduca Altus has boosted its EBIT by 47%, thus reducing the spectre of future debt repayments. The balance sheet is clearly the area to focus on when you are analysing debt. But you can't view debt in total isolation; since Proeduca Altus will need earnings to service that debt. 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.
But our final consideration is also important, because a company cannot pay debt with paper profits; it needs cold hard cash. While Proeduca Altus has net cash on its balance sheet, it's still worth taking a look at its ability to convert earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) to free cash flow, to help us understand how quickly it is building (or eroding) that cash balance. Happily for any shareholders, Proeduca Altus actually produced more free cash flow than EBIT over the last three years. There's nothing better than incoming cash when it comes to staying in your lenders' good graces.
Summing up
While we empathize with investors who find debt concerning, you should keep in mind that Proeduca Altus has net cash of €74m, as well as more liquid assets than liabilities. The cherry on top was that in converted 154% of that EBIT to free cash flow, bringing in €36m. So we don't think Proeduca Altus's use of debt is risky. Above most other metrics, we think its important to track how fast earnings per share is growing, if at all. If you've also come to that realization, you're in luck, because today you can view this interactive graph of Proeduca Altus's earnings per share history for free.
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.
We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.
If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.
