What Does Sanofi's Debt Look Like?

Benzinga · 01/06/2023 16:17

Over the past three months, shares of Sanofi Inc. (NASDAQ:SNY) increased by 20.92%. Before having a look at the importance of debt, let's look at how much debt Sanofi has.

Sanofi Debt

Based on Sanofi's financial statement as of March 5, 2020, long-term debt is at $22.60 billion and current debt is at $5.11 billion, amounting to $27.71 billion in total debt. Adjusted for $10.58 billion in cash-equivalents, the company's net debt is at $17.13 billion.

Let's define some of the terms we used in the paragraph above. Current debt is the portion of a company's debt which is due within 1 year, while long-term debt is the portion due in more than 1 year. Cash equivalents includes cash and any liquid securities with maturity periods of 90 days or less. Total debt equals current debt plus long-term debt minus cash equivalents.

Shareholders look at the debt-ratio to understand how much financial leverage a company has. Sanofi has $126.57 billion in total assets, therefore making the debt-ratio 0.22. Generally speaking, a debt-ratio more than 1 means that a large portion of debt is funded by assets. As the debt-ratio increases, so the does the risk of defaulting on loans, if interest rates were to increase. Different industries have different thresholds of tolerance for debt-ratios. A debt ratio of 25% might be higher for one industry, but average for another.

debt_fig

Why Debt Is Important

Debt is an important factor in the capital structure of a company, and can help it attain growth. Debt usually has a relatively lower financing cost than equity, which makes it an attractive option for executives.

However, due to interest-payment obligations, cash-flow of a company can be impacted. Equity owners can keep excess profit, generated from the debt capital, when companies use the debt capital for its business operations.

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This article was generated by Benzinga's automated content engine and reviewed by an editor.