Yahoo Finance Is Bod Australia Limited’s (ASX:BDA) Balance Sheet A Threat To Its Future?
Zero-debt allows substantial financial flexibility, especially for small-cap companies like Bod Australia Limited (ASX:BDA), as the company does not have to adhere to strict debt covenants. However, it also faces higher cost of capital given interest cost is generally lower than equity. While BDA has no debt on its balance sheet, it doesn’t necessarily mean it exhibits financial strength. I will go over a basic overview of the stock’s financial health, which I believe provides a ballpark estimate of their financial health status.
View our latest analysis for Bod Australia
Want to help shape the future of investing tools and platforms? Take the survey and be part of one of the most advanced studies of stock market investors to date.
Is BDA right in choosing financial flexibility over lower cost of capital?
There are well-known benefits of including debt in capital structure, primarily a lower cost of capital. However, the trade-off is debtholders’ higher claim on company assets in the event of liquidation and stringent obligations around capital management. The lack of debt on BDA’s balance sheet may be because it does not have access to cheap capital, or it may believe this trade-off is not worth it. Choosing financial flexibility over capital returns make sense if BDA is a high-growth company. BDA delivered a strikingly high triple-digit revenue growth over the past year, therefore the company’s decision to choose financial flexibility is justified as it may need headroom to borrow in the future to sustain high growth.
Does BDA’s liquid assets cover its short-term commitments?
Given zero long-term debt on its balance sheet, Bod Australia has no solvency issues, which is used to describe the company’s ability to meet its long-term obligations. However, another measure of financial health is its short-term obligations, which is known as liquidity. These include payments to suppliers, employees and other stakeholders. At the current liabilities level of AU$1.2m, the company has maintained a safe level of current assets to meet its obligations, with the current ratio last standing at 3.13x. Having said that, many consider a ratio above 3x to be high.
Next Steps:
Having no debt on the books means BDA has more financial freedom to keep growing at its current fast rate. Since there is also no concerns around BDA’s liquidity needs, this may be its optimal capital structure for the time being. Moving forward, its financial position may change. Keep in mind I haven’t considered other factors such as how BDA has been performing in the past. I recommend you continue to research Bod Australia to get a better picture of the stock by looking at:
Historical Performance: What has BDA’s returns been like over the past? Go into more detail in the past track record analysis and take a look at the free visual representations of our analysis for more clarity.
Other High-Performing Stocks: Are there other stocks that provide better prospects with proven track records? Explore our free list of these great stocks here.
To help readers see past the short term volatility of the financial market, we aim to bring you a long-term focused research analysis purely driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis does not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements.
The author is an independent contributor and at the time of publication had no position in the stocks mentioned. For errors that warrant correction please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com.
