These 4 Measures Indicate That Wharf (Holdings) (HKG:4) Is Using Debt Reasonably Well
These 4 Measures Indicate That Wharf (Holdings) (HKG:4) 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 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 The Wharf (Holdings) Limited (HKG:4) does have debt on its balance sheet. But is this debt a concern to shareholders?
传奇基金经理李录(查理·芒格的支持者)曾经说过:“最大的投资风险不是价格的波动,而是你是否会遭受资本的永久损失。”因此,明智的投资者似乎知道,债务(通常涉及破产)是评估一家公司风险程度时非常重要的因素。我们注意到,和记黄埔(控股)有限公司(HKG:4)的资产负债表上确实有债务。但这笔债务是否会让股东担忧呢?
When Is Debt A Problem?
什么时候负债才是一个问题?
Generally speaking, debt only becomes a real problem when a company can't easily pay it off, either by raising capital or with its own cash flow. 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. Having said that, the most common situation is where a company manages its debt reasonably well - and to its own advantage. The first thing to do when considering how much debt a business uses is to look at its cash and debt together.
一般而言,债务只有在公司无法轻松偿还它,要么通过提高资本要么通过自身的现金流量。如果公司无法履行偿还债务的法律义务,股东可能无法获得任何资产。然而,更常见的(但仍然昂贵)情况是,一家公司必须以便宜的股票价格稀释股东,以控制债务。尽管如此,在公司合理控制债务并使之发挥自身优势的情况下,最常见的情况是公司合理管理债务。在考虑企业使用多少债务时,首先要做的是查看其现金和债务。
How Much Debt Does Wharf (Holdings) Carry?
和记(控股)承担了多少债务?
The image below, which you can click on for greater detail, shows that Wharf (Holdings) had debt of HK$19.3b at the end of June 2024, a reduction from HK$23.9b over a year. However, it also had HK$10.6b in cash, and so its net debt is HK$8.67b.
下面的图片显示,截至2024年6月底,和记(控股)的债务为193亿港元,比一年前的239亿港元减少。然而,公司也持有106亿港元的现金,因此净债务为86.7亿港元。
How Healthy Is Wharf (Holdings)'s Balance Sheet?
Wharf (Holdings)的资产负债表表现如何?
Zooming in on the latest balance sheet data, we can see that Wharf (Holdings) had liabilities of HK$22.2b due within 12 months and liabilities of HK$27.9b due beyond that. Offsetting this, it had HK$10.6b in cash and HK$1.77b in receivables that were due within 12 months. So it has liabilities totalling HK$37.7b more than its cash and near-term receivables, combined.
放大最新财务状况数据,我们可以看到会德丰(Holdings)有222亿港元的负债需在12个月内偿还,以及279亿港元的超过12个月需偿还的负债。相应的,它有106亿港元的现金和17.7亿港元在12个月内要求偿还的应收款。因此,其负债总额达到377亿港元,超过了其现金和短期应收款的合计。
This deficit is considerable relative to its market capitalization of HK$62.5b, so it does suggest shareholders should keep an eye on Wharf (Holdings)'s use of debt. This suggests shareholders would be heavily diluted if the company needed to shore up its balance sheet in a hurry.
相对于其625亿港元的市值,这个赤字相当可观,因此确实建议股东们密切关注会德丰(Holdings)对债务的使用。这暗示如果公司需要迅速加强其资产负债表,股东们将会受到严重稀释。
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). Thus we consider debt relative to earnings both with and without depreciation and amortization expenses.
通过查看公司的净债务与利息、税、折旧、摊销前利润(EBITDA)之比以及它的利息费用(利息覆盖率)可以衡量一个公司的债务负担与收益能力。因此,我们考虑将债务与有无计算折旧和摊销费用的收益相对比。
Wharf (Holdings) has a low net debt to EBITDA ratio of only 1.2. And its EBIT covers its interest expense a whopping 12.2 times over. So we're pretty relaxed about its super-conservative use of debt. The good news is that Wharf (Holdings) has increased its EBIT by 9.2% over twelve months, which should ease any concerns about debt repayment. 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 Wharf (Holdings) can strengthen its balance sheet over time. So if you're focused on the future you can check out this free report showing analyst profit forecasts.
会德丰(Holdings)的净债务与EBITDA比率仅为1.2。它的EBIt覆盖其利息费用高达12.2倍。因此,我们对其超级保守的债务使用感到非常放心。好消息是,会德丰(Holdings)在过去12个月中将其EBIt增长了9.2%,这应该缓解任何有关债务偿还的顾虑。在分析债务时,资产负债表显然是需要重点关注的地方。但最终业务未来的盈利能力将决定会德丰(Holdings)是否能够随着时间加强其资产负债表。因此,如果您专注于未来,可以查看这份免费报告,展示分析师的利润预测。
Finally, a company can only pay off debt with cold hard cash, not accounting profits. So we clearly need to look at whether that EBIT is leading to corresponding free cash flow. Over the last three years, Wharf (Holdings) recorded free cash flow worth a fulsome 88% of its EBIT, which is stronger than we'd usually expect. That positions it well to pay down debt if desirable to do so.
最后,一家公司只能用冷硬现金偿还债务,而不能用会计利润。因此,我们明显需要看看EBIt是否转化为相应的自由现金流。过去三年中,会德丰(Holdings)记录的自由现金流价值达到其EBIt的丰厚88%,这比我们通常预期的要强。这使其有足够的能力偿还债务,如果有需要的话。
Our View
我们的观点
Happily, Wharf (Holdings)'s impressive interest cover implies it has the upper hand on its debt. But, on a more sombre note, we are a little concerned by its level of total liabilities. Taking all this data into account, it seems to us that Wharf (Holdings) takes a pretty sensible approach to debt. While that brings some risk, it can also enhance returns for shareholders. We'd be motivated to research the stock further if we found out that Wharf (Holdings) insiders have bought shares recently. If you would too, then you're in luck, since today we're sharing our list of reported insider transactions for free.
愉快的是,会德丰(集团)令人印象深刻的利息覆盖表明它在债务方面占据上风。但更为严肃的是,我们对其总负债水平有些担忧。综合考虑所有这些数据,我们认为会德丰(集团)在处理债务方面采取了相当明智的态度。虽然这带来了一些风险,但也可以提高股东的回报。如果我们发现会德丰(集团)内部人士最近购买了股票,我们将受到激励进一步研究这支股票。如果您也有兴趣,那么您很幸运,因为今天我们免费分享我们所报道的内部交易列表。
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.
如果在所有这些之后,您更感兴趣的是具有坚实资产负债表的快速增长公司,那么不要拖延,查看我们的净现金增长股票列表。
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