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. We can see that KBR, Inc. (NYSE:KBR) does use debt in its business. But the real question is whether this debt is making the company risky.

When Is Debt A Problem?

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. Ultimately, if the company can't fulfill its legal obligations to repay debt, shareholders could walk away with nothing. 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. Of course, debt can be an important tool in businesses, particularly capital heavy businesses. When we think about a company's use of debt, we first look at cash and debt together.

How Much Debt Does KBR Carry?

As you can see below, at the end of September 2024, KBR had US$2.61b of debt, up from US$1.76b a year ago. Click the image for more detail. However, it also had US$479.0m in cash, and so its net debt is US$2.13b.

How Strong Is KBR's Balance Sheet?

According to the last reported balance sheet, KBR had liabilities of US$1.83b due within 12 months, and liabilities of US$3.44b due beyond 12 months. On the other hand, it had cash of US$479.0m and US$1.31b worth of receivables due within a year. So its liabilities total US$3.48b more than the combination of its cash and short-term receivables.

While this might seem like a lot, it is not so bad since KBR has a market capitalization of US$8.98b, 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.

We use two main ratios to inform us about debt levels relative to earnings. The first is net debt divided by earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA), while the second is how many times its earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) covers its interest expense (or its interest cover, for short). This way, we consider both the absolute quantum of the debt, as well as the interest rates paid on it.

KBR has a debt to EBITDA ratio of 3.3 and its EBIT covered its interest expense 4.2 times. This suggests that while the debt levels are significant, we'd stop short of calling them problematic. However, one redeeming factor is that KBR grew its EBIT at 16% 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 KBR'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.

But our final consideration is also important, because a company cannot pay debt with paper profits; it needs cold hard cash. So we clearly need to look at whether that EBIT is leading to corresponding free cash flow. During the last three years, KBR produced sturdy free cash flow equating to 65% of its EBIT, about what we'd expect. This cold hard cash means it can reduce its debt when it wants to.

Our View

KBR's conversion of EBIT to free cash flow was a real positive on this analysis, as was its EBIT growth rate. On the other hand, its net debt to EBITDA makes us a little less comfortable about its debt. Considering this range of data points, we think KBR is in a good position to manage its debt levels. But a word of caution: we think debt levels are high enough to justify ongoing monitoring. There's no doubt that we learn most about debt from the balance sheet. But ultimately, every company can contain risks that exist outside of the balance sheet. For example, we've discovered 2 warning signs for KBR (1 doesn't sit too well with us!) that you should be aware of before investing here.

If you're interested in investing in businesses that can grow profits without the burden of debt, then check out this free list of growing businesses that have net cash on the balance sheet.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.