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Here's Why Penguin International (SGX:BTM) Can Manage Its Debt Responsibly

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. 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. As with many other companies Penguin International Limited (SGX:BTM) makes use of debt. But is this debt a concern to shareholders?

What Risk Does Debt Bring?

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. Ultimately, if the company can't fulfill its legal obligations to repay debt, shareholders could walk away with nothing. 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, 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. The first step when considering a company's debt levels is to consider its cash and debt together.

Check out our latest analysis for Penguin International

How Much Debt Does Penguin International Carry?

You can click the graphic below for the historical numbers, but it shows that Penguin International had S$583.0k of debt in June 2019, down from S$1.58m, one year before. But it also has S$48.5m in cash to offset that, meaning it has S$47.9m net cash.

SGX:BTM Historical Debt, October 7th 2019
SGX:BTM Historical Debt, October 7th 2019

A Look At Penguin International's Liabilities

Zooming in on the latest balance sheet data, we can see that Penguin International had liabilities of S$56.1m due within 12 months and liabilities of S$4.36m due beyond that. Offsetting these obligations, it had cash of S$48.5m as well as receivables valued at S$47.4m due within 12 months. So it actually has S$35.4m more liquid assets than total liabilities.

It's good to see that Penguin International has plenty of liquidity on its balance sheet, suggesting conservative management of liabilities. Given it has easily adequate short term liquidity, we don't think it will have any issues with its lenders. Succinctly put, Penguin International boasts net cash, so it's fair to say it does not have a heavy debt load!

It was also good to see that despite losing money on the EBIT line last year, Penguin International turned things around in the last 12 months, delivering and EBIT of S$15m. The balance sheet is clearly the area to focus on when you are analysing debt. But it is future earnings, more than anything, that will determine Penguin International's ability to maintain a healthy balance sheet going forward. So if you want to see what the professionals think, you might find this free report on analyst profit forecasts to be interesting.

Finally, while the tax-man may adore accounting profits, lenders only accept cold hard cash. While Penguin International 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. During the last year, Penguin International burned a lot of cash. While investors are no doubt expecting a reversal of that situation in due course, it clearly does mean its use of debt is more risky.

Summing up

While it is always sensible to investigate a company's debt, in this case Penguin International has S$47.9m in net cash and a decent-looking balance sheet. So we are not troubled with Penguin International's debt use. 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 Penguin International's earnings per share history for free.

When all is said and done, sometimes its easier to focus on companies that don't even need debt. Readers can access a list of growth stocks with zero net debt 100% free, right now.

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.

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