Does Universal (NYSE:UVV) Have A Healthy Balance Sheet?
Does Universal (NYSE:UVV) 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.' So it seems the smart money knows that debt - which is usually involved in bankruptcies - is a very important factor, when you assess how risky a company is. Importantly, Universal Corporation (NYSE:UVV) does carry debt. But the more important question is: how much risk is that debt creating?
大衛·艾本說得很對,他說:'波動性不是我們關心的風險。我們關心的是避免資本的永久性損失。'因此,看起來聰明的人知道,債務(通常涉及破產)是評估公司風險程度時的一個非常重要因素。重要的是,Universal Corporation(紐約證券交易所:UVV)確實存在債務。但更重要的問題是:這筆債務產生了多大風險?
Why Does Debt Bring Risk?
爲什麼債務會帶來風險?
Debt assists a business until the business has trouble paying it off, either with new capital or with free cash flow. In the worst case scenario, a company can go bankrupt if it cannot pay its creditors. 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. Having said that, the most common situation is where a company manages its debt reasonably well - and to its own advantage. When we examine debt levels, we first consider both cash and debt levels, together.
債務在公司不斷獲得新資本或自由現金流之前都會對業務有所幫助。最糟糕的情況是,如果公司無法償還債權人,可能會破產。然而,更常見但仍然昂貴的情況是,公司必須以低廉的股票價格稀釋股東,以控制債務。儘管如此,最常見的情況是,公司合理地管理其債務以獲得自身優勢。當我們考慮債務水平時,首先要考慮現金和債務水平。
How Much Debt Does Universal Carry?
Universal承擔了多少債務?
The image below, which you can click on for greater detail, shows that at June 2024 Universal had debt of US$1.20b, up from US$976.8m in one year. On the flip side, it has US$101.7m in cash leading to net debt of about US$1.10b.
下面的圖片(您可以單擊以獲取更多詳細信息)顯示,在2024年6月,Universal的債務爲12億美元,比一年前的97680萬美元增加。另一方面,它有10170萬美元的現金,淨債務約爲11億美元。
A Look At Universal's Liabilities
審視環球的負債情況
We can see from the most recent balance sheet that Universal had liabilities of US$846.1m falling due within a year, and liabilities of US$743.4m due beyond that. Offsetting these obligations, it had cash of US$101.7m as well as receivables valued at US$496.9m due within 12 months. So it has liabilities totalling US$990.8m more than its cash and near-term receivables, combined.
我們可以從最近的資產負債表看到,環球有截至一年內到期的84610萬美元的負債,以及超過一年到期的74340萬美元的負債。 抵消這些義務的是,它有10170萬美元的現金,以及價值49690萬美元的應收款項,在12個月內到期。 因此,它的負債總額達到99080萬美元,比其現金和短期應收款項的總額多。
This deficit is considerable relative to its market capitalization of US$1.27b, so it does suggest shareholders should keep an eye on Universal's use of debt. Should its lenders demand that it shore up the balance sheet, shareholders would likely face severe dilution.
相對於其市值12.7億美元,這個赤字相當可觀,所以這確實表明股東應該密切關注環球的債務使用情況。 如果其債權人要求它增強資產負債表,股東很可能會面臨嚴重稀釋。
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). This way, we consider both the absolute quantum of the debt, as well as the interest rates paid on it.
爲了衡量公司債務相對於其收入的規模,我們計算其淨債務除以利息、稅收、折舊和攤銷前利潤(EBITDA),並計算其利息前稅利潤(EBIT)除以利息支出(其利息覆蓋率)。這樣,我們考慮了債務的絕對金額,以及支付的利率。
Universal's debt is 3.8 times its EBITDA, and its EBIT cover its interest expense 3.4 times over. This suggests that while the debt levels are significant, we'd stop short of calling them problematic. On a lighter note, we note that Universal grew its EBIT by 30% in the last year. If sustained, this growth should make that debt evaporate like a scarce drinking water during an unnaturally hot summer. The balance sheet is clearly the area to focus on when you are analysing debt. But it is Universal's earnings that will influence how the balance sheet holds up in the future. 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.
環球的債務是其息稅折舊及攤銷前利潤(EBITDA)的3.8倍,其EBIt覆蓋其利息費用的3.4倍。 這意味着雖然債務水平很高,但我們不會認爲它們構成問題。 說輕鬆點,我們注意到環球在過去一年中將其EBIt增長了30%。 如果能持續下去,這種增長應該能像不自然酷熱夏天中稀缺的飲用水一樣讓債務消失。 資產負債表顯然是分析債務時需要關注的重點領域。 但是,環球的收益將影響資產負債表在未來的表現。 所以如果你渴望了解更多關於其收益的內容,不妨查看一下其長期收益趨勢圖。
Finally, a company can only pay off debt with cold hard cash, not accounting profits. So we always check how much of that EBIT is translated into free cash flow. Over the last three years, Universal saw substantial negative free cash flow, in total. While that may be a result of expenditure for growth, it does make the debt far more risky.
最後,一家公司只能用冰冷的現金償還債務,而不能用會計利潤。 因此,我們總是檢查其中多少EBIt轉化爲自由現金流。 在過去三年裏,環球出現了大量負的自由現金流。 雖然這可能是出於增長的支出,但這確實讓債務變得更加風險。
Our View
我們的觀點
We'd go so far as to say Universal's conversion of EBIT to free cash flow was disappointing. But on the bright side, its EBIT growth rate is a good sign, and makes us more optimistic. Looking at the balance sheet and taking into account all these factors, we do believe that debt is making Universal stock a bit risky. Some people like that sort of risk, but we're mindful of the potential pitfalls, so we'd probably prefer it carry less debt. When analysing debt levels, the balance sheet is the obvious place to start. However, not all investment risk resides within the balance sheet - far from it. For example Universal has 2 warning signs (and 1 which is significant) we think you should know about.
我們可以說通用公司將EBIt轉化爲自由現金流的表現令人失望。但美好的一面是,它的EBIt增長率是一個好跡象,讓我們更加樂觀。查看資產負債表並綜合考慮所有這些因素,我們確實認爲債務使通用股票稍微有些風險。有些人喜歡這種風險,但我們意識到潛在的風險,所以我們可能更傾向於它承擔較少的債務。在分析債務水平時,資產負債表顯然是開始的地方。然而,並不是所有的投資風險都藏在資產負債表中——相反。例如,通用公司有2個警示信號(其中有1個是重要的)。我們認爲您應該知道。
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.
如果在所有這些之後,您更感興趣的是具有堅實資產負債表的快速增長公司,那麼不要拖延,查看我們的淨現金增長股票列表。
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Simply Wall St的這篇文章是一般性質的。我們僅基於歷史數據和分析師預測提供評論,使用公正的方法,我們的文章並非意在提供財務建議。這並不構成買入或賣出任何股票的建議,並且不考慮您的目標或財務狀況。我們旨在爲您帶來基於基礎數據驅動的長期聚焦分析。請注意,我們的分析可能未考慮最新的價格敏感公司公告或定性材料。Simply Wall St對提及的任何股票都沒有持倉。