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What is a Coverage Ratio?
A Coverage Ratio is any one of a group of financial ratios used to measure a company’s ability to pay its financial obligations. A higher ratio indicates a greater ability of the company to meet its financial obligations while a lower ratio indicates a lesser ability. Coverage ratios are commonly used by creditors and lenders to determine the financial standing of a prospective borrower.
Debt service coverage ratio: The ability of a company to pay all debt obligations, including repayment of principal and interest
Cash coverage ratio: The ability of a company to pay interest expense with its cash balance
Asset coverage ratio: The ability of a company to repay its debt obligations with its assets
#1 Interest Coverage Ratio
The interest coverage ratio (ICR), also called the “times interest earned”, evaluates the number of times a company is able to pay the interest expenses on its debt with its operating income. As a general benchmark, an interest coverage ratio of 1.5 is considered the minimum acceptable ratio. An ICR below 1.5 may signal default risk and the refusal of lenders to lend more money to the company.
Formula
Interest coverage ratio = Operating income / Interest expense
Example
A company reports an operating income of $500,000. The company is liable for interest payments of $60,000.
Interest coverage = $500,000 / ($60,000) = 8.3x
Therefore, the company would be able to pay its interest payment 8.3x over with its operating income.
#2 Debt Service Coverage Ratio
The debt service coverage ratio (DSCR) evaluates a company’s ability to use its operating income to repay its debt obligations including interest. The DSCR is often calculated when a company takes a loan from a bank, financial institution, or another loan provider. A DSCR of less than 1 suggests an inability to serve the company’s debt. For example, a DSCR of 0.9 means that there is only enough net operating income to cover 90% of annual debt and interest payments. As a general rule of thumb, an ideal debt service coverage ratio is 2 or higher.
Formula
Debt service coverage ratio = Operating Income / Total debt service
Example
For example, a company’s financial statement showed the following figures:
Therefore, the company would be able to cover its debt service 2x over with its operating income.
#3 Cash Coverage Ratio
This is one more additional ratio, known as the cash coverage ratio, which is used to compare the company’s cash balance to its annual interest expense. This is a very conservative metric, as it compares only cash on hand (no other assets) to the interest expense the company has relative to its debt.
Formula
Cash coverage ratio = Total cash / Total interest expense
Example
Consider a company with the following information:
Cash balance: $50 million
Short-term debt: $12 million
Long-term debt: $25 million
Interest expense: $2.5 million
Cash coverage = $50 million / $2.5 million = 20.0x
This means the company can cover its interest expense twenty times over. Since the cash balance is greater than the total debt balance, the company can also repay all the principal it owes with the cash on hand.
#4 Asset Coverage Ratio
The asset coverage ratio (ACR) evaluates a company’s ability to repay its debt obligations by selling its assets. In other words, this ratio assesses a company’s ability to pay debt obligations with assets after satisfying liabilities. The acceptable level of asset coverage depends on the industry. An ASR of 1 means that the company would just be able to pay off all its debts by selling all its assets. An ASR above 1 means that the company would be able to pay off all debts without selling all its assets.
Formula
Asset coverage ratio = ((Total assets – Intangible assets) – (Current liabilities – Short-term debt)) / Total debt obligations
Example
For example, a company’s financials include:
Total assets: $170 million
Intangible assets: $30 million
Current liabilities: $30 million
Short-term debt: $20 million
Total debt: $100 million
Asset coverage = (($170 million – $30 million) – ($30 million – $20 million)) / $100 million = 1.3x
Therefore, the company would be able to pay off all of its debts without selling all of its assets.
Additional resources
CFI is the global provider of the Financial Modeling and Valuation Analyst Program, a certification for financial analysts who want to perform world-class analysis. To continue learning and advancing your career, these additional CFI resources will be helpful:
CFI is a global provider of financial modeling courses and of the FMVA Certification. CFI’s mission is to help all professionals improve their technical skills. If you are a student or looking for a career change, the CFI website has many free resources to help you jumpstart your Career in Finance. If you are seeking to improve your technical skills, check out some of our most popular courses. Below are some additional resources for you to further explore:
CFI is a global provider of financial modeling courses and of the FMVA Certification. CFI’s mission is to help all professionals improve their technical skills. If you are a student or looking for a career change, the CFI website has many free resources to help you jumpstart your Career in Finance. If you are seeking to improve your technical skills, check out some of our most popular courses. Below are some additional resources for you to further explore:
Below is a break down of subject weightings in the FMVA® financial analyst program. As you can see there is a heavy focus on financial modeling, finance, Excel, business valuation, budgeting/forecasting, PowerPoint presentations, accounting and business strategy.
A well rounded financial analyst possesses all of the above skills!
Additional Questions & Answers
CFI is the global institution behind the financial modeling and valuation analyst FMVA® Designation. CFI is on a mission to enable anyone to be a great financial analyst and have a great career path. In order to help you advance your career, CFI has compiled many resources to assist you along the path.
In order to become a great financial analyst, here are some more questions and answers for you to discover:
CFI is a global provider of financial modeling courses and of the FMVA Certification. CFI’s mission is to help all professionals improve their technical skills. If you are a student or looking for a career change, the CFI website has many free resources to help you jumpstart your Career in Finance. If you are seeking to improve your technical skills, check out some of our most popular courses. Below are some additional resources for you to further explore:
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