Do Americanas have a debt of R$ 40 billion? Understand the indicators and the financial situation of the network

After admitting an accounting inconsistency of R$ 20 billion on its balance sheet, Americanas SA asked for a precautionary measure, that is, protection from Justice to avoid the anticipation of maturity of debts that, according to the company, add up to R$ 40 billion.

The number corresponds to the sum of the BRL 20 billion exposed by the now former president of Americanas, Sergio Rial, and the company’s gross debt, which in September 2022, the last available data, was almost BRL 20 billion.

But what is the company’s real financial situation, according to the balance sheet released in November, referring to the third quarter of 2022? How much do Americanas have available to honor their commitments?

Retail chain extended payment deadlines

Americanas’ latest balance sheet shows that the company has worked to lengthen the terms of its debts between 2021 and 2022. And the biggest one was in loans and financing from banks.

In September 2021, Americanas had BRL 3.4 billion in loans with maturities of up to 12 months. A year later, this figure dropped to just under R$900 million.

On the other hand, long-term loans and financing almost doubled, going from almost BRL 8 billion to BRL 15.5 billion. These contracts have maturities of more than 12 months.

The total value of these loans, adding up all maturities, corresponds to almost 87% of Americanas’ total gross debt at the end of the third quarter, of R$ 19.3 billion. This debt grew by more than 50% in 12 months, since, in September 2021, it stood at R$ 12.8 billion.

Net debt is R$5.3 billion; understand

To measure net debt, the company calculates what resources it has available in cash plus what it has to receive —in credit card receivables, in the case of Americanas and other retailers.

Americanas had, in September, R$ 8.8 billion in cash, plus R$ 5.2 billion in receivables, already discounting those that were advanced by the company with banks. A total of BRL 14 billion available, almost BRL 2 billion less than 12 months earlier, when cash was available at BRL 15.8 billion.

Thus, Americanas’ net debt of R$ 5.3 billion is reached. A year before, the available resources were greater than the gross debt, and therefore, the company had a net cash of R$ 3 billion.

Accounting gap may affect payment capacity indicator

It is from there that companies calculate what is called leverage in the market, which gives an idea of ​​a company’s ability to pay its commitments. It is measured by dividing the net debt by Ebitda, which is the company’s operating result, measured before purely financial variables, such as taxes, debt interest, and other accounting indicators.

Americanas ended the third quarter of 2022, according to its balance sheet, with a net debt/Ebitda ratio of 1.7 times, a level considered quite healthy by analysts.

In some contracts, especially those made with large creditors, there is a clause that limits this leverage, as a form of protection against any difficulty in paying the amounts due.

In the case of Americanas, according to the analysis team at XP Investimentos, a small part of contracts with creditors have this protection, which cannot be greater than 3.5 times the debt/Ebitda ratio.

But, still according to XP, if Americanas admits the uncovered BRL 20 billion in its balance sheets at once, the debt/Ebitda ratio jumps to 8 times, which would justify the request for anticipation of the maturity of contracts, for those who entered this clause.

It is not possible to know how many Americanas financing agreements have this clause. It is more common for it to be present in issues made in the capital market, with debentures, for example. Americanas has BRL 4.3 billion in bonds of this type payable, of which BRL 1.3 billion are short-term.

In the balance sheet, Americanas also declared a current liability, that is, payments to be made in the short term, of R$ 5 billion with suppliers. In this case, this is a common item in retailers’ balance sheets, as the large chains are able to negotiate payment terms for the products they buy, usually between 30 and 90 days.