HK Electric Investments and HK Electric Investments (HKG:2638) Has A Somewhat Strained Balance Sheet
HK Electric Investments and HK Electric Investments (HKG:2638) Has A Somewhat Strained Balance Sheet
Legendary fund manager Li Lu (who Charlie Munger backed) once said, 'The biggest investment risk is not the volatility of prices, but whether you will suffer a permanent loss of capital.' So it might be obvious that you need to consider debt, when you think about how risky any given stock is, because too much debt can sink a company. We can see that HK Electric Investments and HK Electric Investments Limited (HKG:2638) does use debt in its business. But the more important question is: how much risk is that debt creating?
传奇基金经理李露(由查理·芒格支持)曾经说过:“最大的投资风险不是价格的波动,而是你是否会遭受永久的资本损失。”因此,很明显,当你考虑任何给定股票的风险时,你需要考虑债务,因为过多的债务会使公司陷入困境。我们可以看到,港灯电力投资和港灯电力投资有限公司(HKG: 2638)确实在其业务中使用了债务。但更重要的问题是:这笔债务会带来多大的风险?
Why Does Debt Bring Risk?
为什么债务会带来风险?
Debt and other liabilities become risky for a business when it cannot easily fulfill those obligations, either with free cash flow or by raising capital at an attractive price. If things get really bad, the lenders can take control of the business. While that is not too common, we often do see indebted companies permanently diluting shareholders because lenders force them to raise capital at a distressed price. Of course, plenty of companies use debt to fund growth, without any negative consequences. The first thing to do when considering how much debt a business uses is to look at its cash and debt together.
当企业无法通过自由现金流或以诱人的价格筹集资金来轻松履行这些义务时,债务和其他负债就会成为风险。如果情况变得非常糟糕,贷款人可以控制业务。尽管这种情况并不常见,但我们经常会看到负债公司永久稀释股东,因为贷款人迫使他们以不良价格筹集资金。当然,许多公司使用债务为增长提供资金,而不会产生任何负面影响。在考虑企业使用多少债务时,要做的第一件事是同时考虑其现金和债务。
What Is HK Electric Investments and HK Electric Investments's Debt?
什么是港灯电力投资和港灯电力投资的债务?
As you can see below, HK Electric Investments and HK Electric Investments had HK$50.2b of debt, at December 2023, which is about the same as the year before. You can click the chart for greater detail. Net debt is about the same, since the it doesn't have much cash.
如下所示,截至2023年12月,港灯电力投资和港灯电力投资的债务为502亿港元,与前一年大致相同。您可以单击图表以获取更多详细信息。净负债大致相同,因为它没有太多现金。
![debt-equity-history-analysis](https://usnewsfile.moomoo.com/public/MM-PersistNewsContentImage/7781/20240528/0-1292288fc05d86cb303230353c6e14c9-0-2888d25aa74113ca33326ee0c10e4633.png/big)
How Strong Is HK Electric Investments and HK Electric Investments' Balance Sheet?
港灯电力投资和港灯电力投资的资产负债表有多强?
According to the last reported balance sheet, HK Electric Investments and HK Electric Investments had liabilities of HK$5.12b due within 12 months, and liabilities of HK$64.4b due beyond 12 months. Offsetting this, it had HK$114.0m in cash and HK$1.38b in receivables that were due within 12 months. So its liabilities total HK$68.1b more than the combination of its cash and short-term receivables.
根据上次报告的资产负债表,港灯电力投资和港灯电力投资的负债为51.2亿港元,12个月后到期的负债为644亿港元。与此相抵消的是,它有1.140亿港元的现金和13.8亿港元的应收账款将在12个月内到期。因此,其负债总额比其现金和短期应收账款的总额高出681亿港元。
The deficiency here weighs heavily on the HK$42.8b company itself, as if a child were struggling under the weight of an enormous back-pack full of books, his sports gear, and a trumpet. So we definitely think shareholders need to watch this one closely. After all, HK Electric Investments and HK Electric Investments would likely require a major re-capitalisation if it had to pay its creditors today.
这里的缺陷严重影响了这家428亿港元的公司本身,就好像一个孩子在装满书本、运动装备和喇叭的巨大背包的重压下挣扎一样。因此,我们绝对认为股东需要密切关注这个问题。毕竟,如果今天必须向债权人付款,港灯电力投资和港灯电力投资可能需要进行大规模的资本重组。
We measure a company's debt load relative to its earnings power by looking at its net debt divided by its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) and by calculating how easily its earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) cover its interest expense (interest cover). This way, we consider both the absolute quantum of the debt, as well as the interest rates paid on it.
我们通过以下方法来衡量公司的债务负担与其盈利能力:将其净负债除以利息、税项、折旧和摊销前的收益(EBITDA),并计算其利息和税前收益(EBIT)支付利息支出(利息保障)的难易程度。这样,我们既考虑债务的绝对数量,也考虑为债务支付的利率。
With a net debt to EBITDA ratio of 6.0, it's fair to say HK Electric Investments and HK Electric Investments does have a significant amount of debt. But the good news is that it boasts fairly comforting interest cover of 3.9 times, suggesting it can responsibly service its obligations. However, one redeeming factor is that HK Electric Investments and HK Electric Investments grew its EBIT at 14% over the last 12 months, boosting its ability to handle its debt. There's no doubt that we learn most about debt from the balance sheet. But it is future earnings, more than anything, that will determine HK Electric Investments and HK Electric Investments'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.
由于净负债与息税折旧摊销前利润的比率为6.0,可以公平地说,港灯电力投资和港灯电力投资确实有大量债务。但好消息是,它拥有相当令人欣慰的3.9倍的利息保障,这表明它可以负责任地履行其债务。但是,一个赎回因素是,港灯电力投资和港灯电力投资在过去12个月中将其息税前利润增长至14%,增强了其处理债务的能力。毫无疑问,我们从资产负债表中学到的关于债务的知识最多。但是,未来的收益比什么都重要,将决定港灯电力投资和港灯电力投资未来维持健康资产负债表的能力。因此,如果你想看看专业人士的想法,你可能会发现这份关于分析师利润预测的免费报告很有趣。
Finally, a company can only pay off debt with cold hard cash, not accounting profits. So it's worth checking how much of that EBIT is backed by free cash flow. Looking at the most recent three years, HK Electric Investments and HK Electric Investments recorded free cash flow of 28% of its EBIT, which is weaker than we'd expect. That's not great, when it comes to paying down debt.
最后,公司只能用冷硬现金偿还债务,不能用会计利润偿还债务。因此,值得检查一下息税前利润中有多少是由自由现金流支持的。从最近三年来看,港灯电力投资和港灯电力投资的自由现金流占其息税前利润的28%,低于我们的预期。在偿还债务方面,这并不好。
Our View
我们的观点
To be frank both HK Electric Investments and HK Electric Investments's level of total liabilities and its track record of managing its debt, based on its EBITDA, make us rather uncomfortable with its debt levels. But on the bright side, its EBIT growth rate is a good sign, and makes us more optimistic. It's also worth noting that HK Electric Investments and HK Electric Investments is in the Electric Utilities industry, which is often considered to be quite defensive. Overall, it seems to us that HK Electric Investments and HK Electric Investments's balance sheet is really quite a risk to the business. For this reason we're pretty cautious about the stock, and we think shareholders should keep a close eye on its liquidity. There's no doubt that we learn most about debt from the balance sheet. However, not all investment risk resides within the balance sheet - far from it. For example HK Electric Investments and HK Electric Investments has 2 warning signs (and 1 which is significant) we think you should know about.
坦率地说,港灯电力投资和港灯电力投资的总负债水平及其根据息税折旧摊销前利润管理债务的往绩都使我们对其债务水平感到相当不舒服。但好的一面是,其息税前利润增长率是一个好兆头,也使我们更加乐观。还值得注意的是,港灯电力投资和港灯电力投资属于电力公用事业行业,人们通常认为该行业具有很强的防御性。总体而言,在我们看来,港灯电力投资和港灯电力投资的资产负债表对业务来说确实是一个很大的风险。出于这个原因,我们对该股非常谨慎,我们认为股东应密切关注其流动性。毫无疑问,我们从资产负债表中学到的关于债务的知识最多。但是,并非所有的投资风险都存在于资产负债表中,远非如此。例如,香港电力投资和港灯电力投资有两个警告信号(其中一个很重要),我们认为你应该知道。
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.
当然,如果你是那种喜欢在没有债务负担的情况下购买股票的投资者,那么请立即查看我们的独家净现金增长股票清单。
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Simply Wall St的这篇文章本质上是笼统的。我们仅使用公正的方法根据历史数据和分析师的预测提供评论,我们的文章无意作为财务建议。它不构成买入或卖出任何股票的建议,也没有考虑到您的目标或财务状况。我们的目标是为您提供由基本数据驱动的长期重点分析。请注意,我们的分析可能不考虑最新的价格敏感型公司公告或定性材料。简而言之,华尔街没有持有任何上述股票的头寸。