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Sappi (JSE:SAP) Interest Coverage : 2.84 (As of Mar. 2024)


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What is Sappi Interest Coverage?

Interest Coverage is a ratio that determines how easily a company can pay interest expenses on outstanding debt. It is calculated by dividing a company's Operating Income by its Interest Expense. Sappi's Operating Income for the three months ended in Mar. 2024 was R1,338 Mil. Sappi's Interest Expense for the three months ended in Mar. 2024 was R-471 Mil. Sappi's interest coverage for the quarter that ended in Mar. 2024 was 2.84. The higher the ratio, the stronger the company's financial strength is.

Warning Sign:

Ben Graham prefers companies' interest coverage to be at least 5. Sappi Ltds earnings cannot cover its interest expense. If the situation continues, the company may have to issue more debt.

The historical rank and industry rank for Sappi's Interest Coverage or its related term are showing as below:

JSE:SAP' s Interest Coverage Range Over the Past 10 Years
Min: 0.23   Med: 4.26   Max: 7.12
Current: 0.23


JSE:SAP's Interest Coverage is ranked worse than
98% of 200 companies
in the Forest Products industry
Industry Median: 5.95 vs JSE:SAP: 0.23

Note: If both Interest Expense and Interest Income are empty, while Net Interest Income is negative, then use Net Interest Income as Interest Expense.


Sappi Interest Coverage Historical Data

The historical data trend for Sappi's Interest Coverage can be seen below:

* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD.
* For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.

Note: For Interest Coverage, "No debt" indicates no long-term debt. An indication of "No Debt" does not necessarily mean that the company has no long-term debt obligations; it could be due to missing data in the quarterly or annual report. Use caution when interpreting this information.

* Premium members only.

Sappi Interest Coverage Chart

Sappi Annual Data
Trend Sep14 Sep15 Sep16 Sep17 Sep18 Sep19 Sep20 Sep21 Sep22 Sep23
Interest Coverage
Get a 7-Day Free Trial Premium Member Only Premium Member Only 4.26 - 1.28 7.12 3.58

Sappi Quarterly Data
Jun19 Sep19 Dec19 Mar20 Jun20 Sep20 Dec20 Mar21 Jun21 Sep21 Dec21 Mar22 Jun22 Sep22 Dec22 Mar23 Jun23 Sep23 Dec23 Mar24
Interest Coverage Get a 7-Day Free Trial Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only 3.72 2.20 - - 2.84

Competitive Comparison of Sappi's Interest Coverage

For the Paper & Paper Products subindustry, Sappi's Interest Coverage, along with its competitors' market caps and Interest Coverage data, can be viewed below:

* Competitive companies are chosen from companies within the same industry, with headquarter located in same country, with closest market capitalization; x-axis shows the market cap, and y-axis shows the term value; the bigger the dot, the larger the market cap. Note that "N/A" values will not show up in the chart.


Sappi's Interest Coverage Distribution in the Forest Products Industry

For the Forest Products industry and Basic Materials sector, Sappi's Interest Coverage distribution charts can be found below:

* The bar in red indicates where Sappi's Interest Coverage falls into.



Sappi Interest Coverage Calculation

Interest Coverage is a ratio that determines how easily a company can pay interest expenses on outstanding debt. It is calculated by dividing a company's Operating Income (EBIT) by its Interest Expense:

If Interest Expense is negative and Operating Income is positive, then

Interest Coverage=-1* Operating Income /Interest Expense

Else if Interest Expense is negative and Operating Income is negative, then

The company did not have earnings to cover the interest expense.

Else if Interest Expense is 0 and Long-Term Debt & Capital Lease Obligation is 0, then

The company had no debt (1).


Note: If both Interest Expense and Interest Income are empty, while Net Interest Income is negative, then use Net Interest Income as Interest Expense.

Sappi's Interest Coverage for the fiscal year that ended in Sep. 2023 is calculated as

Here, for the fiscal year that ended in Sep. 2023, Sappi's Interest Expense was R-2,029 Mil. Its Operating Income was R7,264 Mil. And its Long-Term Debt & Capital Lease Obligation was R26,362 Mil.

Interest Coverage=-1* Operating Income (A: Sep. 2023 )/Interest Expense (A: Sep. 2023 )
=-1*7263.863/-2029.33
=3.58

Sappi's Interest Coverage for the quarter that ended in Mar. 2024 is calculated as

Here, for the three months ended in Mar. 2024, Sappi's Interest Expense was R-471 Mil. Its Operating Income was R1,338 Mil. And its Long-Term Debt & Capital Lease Obligation was R27,763 Mil.

Interest Coverage=-1* Operating Income (Q: Mar. 2024 )/Interest Expense (Q: Mar. 2024 )
=-1*1338.194/-471.195
=2.84

* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD.
* For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.

The higher the ratio, the stronger the company's Financial Strength is.


Sappi  (JSE:SAP) Interest Coverage Explanation

Ben Graham requires that a company has a minimum interest coverage of 5 with the companies he invested. If the interest coverage is less than 2, the company is burdened by debt. Any business slow or recession may drag the company into a situation where it cannot pay the interest on its debt.

Interest Coverage is an important factor when GuruFocus ranks a company's overage Financial Strength .


Sappi Interest Coverage Related Terms

Thank you for viewing the detailed overview of Sappi's Interest Coverage provided by GuruFocus.com. Please click on the following links to see related term pages.


Sappi (JSE:SAP) Business Description

Traded in Other Exchanges
Address
108 Oxford Road, Rosebank, Houghton Estate, Johannesburg, GT, ZAF, 2198
Sappi Ltd produces and sells a variety of paper and paper-related products. The products and services include Dissolving pulp, Graphic papers, Packaging and speciality papers, Casting and release papers, Biomaterials and Bio-energy. The company organizes itself into three primary segments based on geography: North America, Europe, and Southern Africa. More of the revenue comes from Europe than any other geography.