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Is Bellway (LON:BWY) Using Too Much Debt?

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 note that Bellway p.l.c. (LON:BWY) does have debt on its balance sheet. But is this debt a concern to shareholders?

When Is Debt A Problem?

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. 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, 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.

View our latest analysis for Bellway

What Is Bellway's Net Debt?

As you can see below, at the end of July 2021, Bellway had UK£130.0m of debt, up from UK£50.0m a year ago. Click the image for more detail. However, its balance sheet shows it holds UK£460.3m in cash, so it actually has UK£330.3m net cash.

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

A Look At Bellway's Liabilities

According to the last reported balance sheet, Bellway had liabilities of UK£1.07b due within 12 months, and liabilities of UK£316.9m due beyond 12 months. Offsetting this, it had UK£460.3m in cash and UK£82.2m in receivables that were due within 12 months. So its liabilities total UK£846.5m more than the combination of its cash and short-term receivables.

While this might seem like a lot, it is not so bad since Bellway has a market capitalization of UK£4.20b, and so it could probably strengthen its balance sheet by raising capital if it needed to. However, it is still worthwhile taking a close look at its ability to pay off debt. Despite its noteworthy liabilities, Bellway boasts net cash, so it's fair to say it does not have a heavy debt load!

On top of that, Bellway grew its EBIT by 65% over the last twelve months, and that growth will make it easier to handle its debt. 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 Bellway can strengthen its balance sheet over time. So if you want to see what the professionals think, you might find this free report on analyst profit forecasts to be interesting.

Finally, while the tax-man may adore accounting profits, lenders only accept cold hard cash. Bellway may have net cash on the balance sheet, but it is still interesting to look at how well the business converts its earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) to free cash flow, because that will influence both its need for, and its capacity to manage debt. Looking at the most recent three years, Bellway recorded free cash flow of 42% of its EBIT, which is weaker than we'd expect. That's not great, when it comes to paying down debt.

Summing up

While Bellway does have more liabilities than liquid assets, it also has net cash of UK£330.3m. And it impressed us with its EBIT growth of 65% over the last year. So we don't think Bellway's use of debt is risky. 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. To that end, you should be aware of the 1 warning sign we've spotted with Bellway .

At the end of the day, it's often better to focus on companies that are free from net debt. You can access our special list of such companies (all with a track record of profit growth). It's free.

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.

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