Over the past three months, shares of Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY) increased by 1.88%. Before we understand the importance of debt, let us look at how much debt Sanofi has.
Sanofi's 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.
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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 include 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.
Investors 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. As a rule of thumb, a debt-ratio more than one indicates that a considerable portion of debt is funded by assets. A higher debt-ratio can also imply that the company might be putting itself at risk for default, if interest rates were to increase. However, debt-ratios vary widely across different industries. A debt ratio of 40% might be higher for one industry and normal for another.
Importance Of Debt
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.
Interest-payment obligations can impact the cash-flow of the company. 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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