Do you (does your bank) include marketable securities into net debt calculation?

Hi guys,

Do you (or does your bank) include marketable securities into net debt calculation as well? I.e., should we subtract only cash & ce from total debt or should we deduct marketable securities as well in addition to cash & ce?

I've gone through google research and have asked a couple of friends but they seem to have different answers...

5 Comments
 

Depends on why the company has the marketable securities on its balance sheet to begin with. An insurance company, bank, or other financial institution will have marketable securities as revenue generating assets as part of their normal course of business. A manufacturer may have marketable securities as an alternative to a near zero yield cash deposit account. I think it comes down to the question of can the securities be liquidated to pay down debt without disrupting the normal operations of the business?

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monkey sleeps

What is the best way to value a company with excess cash, no debt and marketable securities at 50% of Total Assets?

Knowing nothing about the company it sounds like some type of specialty finance business so the value is going to be highly dependent on their ability to finance those marketable securities.

You say there's no debt - is that because nobody is willing to finance the securities? How are the securities funded? What are the securities? What is the other 50% of assets comprised of? All that matters.

Based on your description, if someone put a gun to my head and forced me to slap a value on it without any of the above questions being answered, I'd value it as a pool of securities rather than an operating business.

 

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