Yahoo Finance Does Ball (NYSE:BLL) Have A Healthy Balance Sheet?
Warren Buffett famously said, 'Volatility is far from synonymous with risk.' 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. We note that Ball Corporation (NYSE:BLL) does have debt on its balance sheet. But is this debt a concern to shareholders?
What Risk Does Debt Bring?
Debt assists a business until the business has trouble paying it off, either with new capital or with free cash flow. Part and parcel of capitalism is the process of 'creative destruction' where failed businesses are mercilessly liquidated by their bankers. However, a more common (but still painful) scenario is that it has to raise new equity capital at a low price, thus permanently diluting shareholders. 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.
View our latest analysis for Ball
What Is Ball's Net Debt?
As you can see below, Ball had US$7.31b of debt, at June 2019, which is about the same the year before. You can click the chart for greater detail. However, because it has a cash reserve of US$764.0m, its net debt is less, at about US$6.54b.
How Strong Is Ball's Balance Sheet?
According to the last reported balance sheet, Ball had liabilities of US$4.13b due within 12 months, and liabilities of US$9.41b due beyond 12 months. On the other hand, it had cash of US$764.0m and US$1.96b worth of receivables due within a year. So it has liabilities totalling US$10.8b more than its cash and near-term receivables, combined.
While this might seem like a lot, it is not so bad since Ball has a huge market capitalization of US$24.1b, and so it could probably strengthen its balance sheet by raising capital if it needed to. But we definitely want to keep our eyes open to indications that its debt is bringing too much risk.
In order to size up a company's debt relative to its earnings, we calculate its net debt divided by its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) and its earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) divided by its interest expense (its interest cover). The advantage of this approach is that we take into account both the absolute quantum of debt (with net debt to EBITDA) and the actual interest expenses associated with that debt (with its interest cover ratio).
Ball has a debt to EBITDA ratio of 3.7 and its EBIT covered its interest expense 3.6 times. This suggests that while the debt levels are significant, we'd stop short of calling them problematic. More concerning, Ball saw its EBIT drop by 4.5% 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. The balance sheet is clearly the area to focus on when you are analysing debt. But ultimately the future profitability of the business will decide if Ball 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.
Finally, while the tax-man may adore accounting profits, lenders only accept cold hard cash. So we clearly need to look at whether that EBIT is leading to corresponding free cash flow. In the last three years, Ball's free cash flow amounted to 46% of its EBIT, less than we'd expect. That weak cash conversion makes it more difficult to handle indebtedness.
Our View
While Ball's interest cover makes us cautious about it, its track record of managing its debt, based on its EBITDA, is no better. At least its conversion of EBIT to free cash flow gives us reason to be optimistic. When we consider all the factors discussed, it seems to us that Ball is taking some risks with its use of debt. While that debt can boost returns, we think the company has enough leverage now. Given our hesitation about the stock, it would be good to know if Ball insiders have sold any shares recently. You click here to find out if insiders have sold recently.
Of course, if you're the type of investor who prefers buying stocks without the burden of debt, then don't hesitate to discover our exclusive list of net cash growth stocks, today.
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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.
