LONDON -- Right now I'm trawling through the FTSE 100 (UKX) and checking for blue chips that have had to take on extra debts to help fund their dividends and buybacks.
Today, I'm looking at GlaxoSmithKline
|
Year to Dec. 31 |
2007 |
2008 |
2009 |
2010 |
2011 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Net debt issued/(repaid) (in millions of pounds) | 4,869 | 2,416 | 1,208 | (1,335) | (1) |
| Dividends paid (in millions of pounds) | (2,793) | (2,929) | (3,003) | (3,025) | (3,406) |
| Net shares issued/(repurchased) (in millions of pounds) | (3,244) | (3,654) | (1) | 63 | (1,932) |
| Total cash retained/(spent) (in millions of pounds) | 1,640 | 1,400 | 933 | (339) | (189) |
While annual cash flow movements can provide some insight into how a business has performed, I reckon looking back over several years provides a better view of possible potential problems with the funding of dividends and buybacks.
So between 2007 and 2011, my stats tell me GlaxoSmithKline paid out aggregate dividends of 15.3 billion pounds and spent a net 8.8 billion pounds on share buybacks.
However, to help fund that expenditure, a net 7.2 billion pounds was taken on as additional debt. My numbers also show total cash retained in the business after all expenses and payments (and adjusted for currency movements) was 2.5 billion pounds during those five years.
As such, I reckon GlaxoSmithKline effectively increased its net debt by 4.7 billion pounds between 2007 and 2011 to help pay for total dividends and buybacks of 24.1 billion pounds.
While other expenditure, such as acquisitions, may have prompted GlaxoSmithKline to take on that additional debt, a business cannot keep on borrowing extra money forever to help fund dividends and buybacks. As we saw in the banking crash, such "shareholder returns" are discretionary, and these days I prefer them to be paid entirely through annual cash flows.
Furthermore, I like to see companies use their cash flows to pay off their debts, rather than spend more than they earn and have to take on extra borrowings. That way there is less financial risk to any investment.
All told, I feel these cash flow numbers from GlaxoSmithKline do not indicate obvious or immediate trouble, but they are certainly something to monitor if you're a shareholder, just in case.
Somebody who always studies cash flow numbers in detail is Neil Woodford, the U.K.'s leading equity income fund manager. Mr. Woodford's portfolios thrashed the FTSE 100 during the 15 years to 2011 and this free Motley Fool report -- which can be downloaded for a limited time only -- reviews his favorite blue-chip shares for 2013 and beyond.
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