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These 4 Measures Indicate That Myer Holdings (ASX:MYR) Is Using Debt Reasonably Well

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. As with many other companies Myer Holdings Limited (ASX:MYR) makes use of debt. But is this debt a concern to shareholders?

Why Does Debt Bring Risk?

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 frequent (but still costly) occurrence is where a company must issue shares at bargain-basement prices, permanently diluting shareholders, just to shore up its balance sheet. Of course, debt can be an important tool in businesses, particularly capital heavy businesses. The first thing to do when considering how much debt a business uses is to look at its cash and debt together.

See our latest analysis for Myer Holdings

What Is Myer Holdings's Debt?

As you can see below, Myer Holdings had AU$56.9m of debt at January 2022, down from AU$75.4m a year prior. But it also has AU$274.1m in cash to offset that, meaning it has AU$217.2m net cash.

debt-equity-history-analysis
debt-equity-history-analysis

A Look At Myer Holdings' Liabilities

According to the last reported balance sheet, Myer Holdings had liabilities of AU$730.1m due within 12 months, and liabilities of AU$1.68b due beyond 12 months. Offsetting this, it had AU$274.1m in cash and AU$32.5m in receivables that were due within 12 months. So it has liabilities totalling AU$2.10b more than its cash and near-term receivables, combined.

The deficiency here weighs heavily on the AU$266.9m 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'd watch its balance sheet closely, without a doubt. At the end of the day, Myer Holdings would probably need a major re-capitalization if its creditors were to demand repayment. Given that Myer Holdings has more cash than debt, we're pretty confident it can handle its debt, despite the fact that it has a lot of liabilities in total.

Notably, Myer Holdings's EBIT launched higher than Elon Musk, gaining a whopping 113% on last year. The balance sheet is clearly the area to focus on when you are analysing debt. But it is future earnings, more than anything, that will determine Myer Holdings's ability to maintain a healthy balance sheet going forward. So if you're focused on the future you can check out this free report showing analyst profit forecasts.

But our final consideration is also important, because a company cannot pay debt with paper profits; it needs cold hard cash. While Myer Holdings has net cash on its balance sheet, it's still worth taking a look at its ability to convert earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) to free cash flow, to help us understand how quickly it is building (or eroding) that cash balance. Over the last three years, Myer Holdings actually produced more free cash flow than EBIT. That sort of strong cash conversion gets us as excited as the crowd when the beat drops at a Daft Punk concert.

Summing up

Although Myer Holdings's balance sheet isn't particularly strong, due to the total liabilities, it is clearly positive to see that it has net cash of AU$217.2m. And it impressed us with free cash flow of AU$127m, being 138% of its EBIT. So we don't have any problem with Myer Holdings's use of debt. The balance sheet is clearly the area to focus on when you are analysing debt. But ultimately, every company can contain risks that exist outside of the balance sheet. For instance, we've identified 2 warning signs for Myer Holdings that you should be aware of.

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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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.