Cury Construtora e Incorporadora (BVMF:CURY3) Seems To Use Debt Rather Sparingly

Simply Wall St · 5d ago

Howard Marks put it nicely when he said that, rather than worrying about share price volatility, 'The possibility of permanent loss is the risk I worry about... and every practical investor I know worries about.' When we think about how risky a company is, we always like to look at its use of debt, since debt overload can lead to ruin. We note that Cury Construtora e Incorporadora S.A. (BVMF:CURY3) does have debt on its balance sheet. But is this debt a concern to shareholders?

What Risk Does Debt Bring?

Debt is a tool to help businesses grow, but if a business is incapable of paying off its lenders, then it exists at their mercy. 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, plenty of companies use debt to fund growth, without any negative consequences. The first thing to do when considering how much debt a business uses is to look at its cash and debt together.

View our latest analysis for Cury Construtora e Incorporadora

What Is Cury Construtora e Incorporadora's Net Debt?

As you can see below, at the end of June 2024, Cury Construtora e Incorporadora had R$1.08b of debt, up from R$499.6m a year ago. Click the image for more detail. But it also has R$1.23b in cash to offset that, meaning it has R$151.9m net cash.

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BOVESPA:CURY3 Debt to Equity History September 29th 2024

A Look At Cury Construtora e Incorporadora's Liabilities

Zooming in on the latest balance sheet data, we can see that Cury Construtora e Incorporadora had liabilities of R$1.37b due within 12 months and liabilities of R$1.56b due beyond that. On the other hand, it had cash of R$1.23b and R$609.5m worth of receivables due within a year. So its liabilities total R$1.09b more than the combination of its cash and short-term receivables.

Of course, Cury Construtora e Incorporadora has a market capitalization of R$6.58b, so these liabilities are probably manageable. Having said that, it's clear that we should continue to monitor its balance sheet, lest it change for the worse. While it does have liabilities worth noting, Cury Construtora e Incorporadora also has more cash than debt, so we're pretty confident it can manage its debt safely.

On top of that, Cury Construtora e Incorporadora grew its EBIT by 38% 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 Cury Construtora e Incorporadora 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, a company can only pay off debt with cold hard cash, not accounting profits. Cury Construtora e Incorporadora 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. Over the most recent three years, Cury Construtora e Incorporadora recorded free cash flow worth 67% of its EBIT, which is around normal, given free cash flow excludes interest and tax. This cold hard cash means it can reduce its debt when it wants to.

Summing Up

Although Cury Construtora e Incorporadora's balance sheet isn't particularly strong, due to the total liabilities, it is clearly positive to see that it has net cash of R$151.9m. And it impressed us with its EBIT growth of 38% over the last year. So is Cury Construtora e Incorporadora's debt a risk? It doesn't seem so to us. 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. We've identified 1 warning sign with Cury Construtora e Incorporadora , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.

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.