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Interest Coverage Ratio

accounting
Definition
A measure of a company's ability to make interest payments on its debt, calculated as EBIT divided by interest expense.

Explanation

Interest coverage measures how many times a company can pay its interest obligations from operating earnings. A ratio of 5x means the company earns 5 times its interest payments. Below 3x is concerning. Below 1.5x is dangerous — the company is barely covering its interest. Below 1.0x means the company cannot cover interest from operations and must borrow, sell assets, or default. Credit rating agencies use interest coverage as a key metric in their credit assessments.

Formula

Interest Coverage = EBIT / Interest Expense

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