Some say volatility, rather than debt, is the best way to think about risk as an investor, but Warren Buffett famously said that 'Volatility is far from synonymous with risk.' When we think about how risky a company is, we always like to look at its use of debt, since debt overload can lead to ruin. We can see that Anhui Province Natural Gas DevelopmentCo.,Ltd. (SHSE:603689) does use debt in its business. But the more important question is: how much risk is that debt creating?

What Risk Does Debt Bring?

Debt and other liabilities become risky for a business when it cannot easily fulfill those obligations, either with free cash flow or by raising capital at an attractive price. Ultimately, if the company can't fulfill its legal obligations to repay debt, shareholders could walk away with nothing. However, a more usual (but still expensive) situation is where a company must dilute shareholders at a cheap share price simply to get debt under control. By replacing dilution, though, debt can be an extremely good tool for businesses that need capital to invest in growth at high rates of return. When we think about a company's use of debt, we first look at cash and debt together.

What Is Anhui Province Natural Gas DevelopmentCo.Ltd's Debt?

As you can see below, Anhui Province Natural Gas DevelopmentCo.Ltd had CN¥2.71b of debt, at June 2024, which is about the same as the year before. You can click the chart for greater detail. On the flip side, it has CN¥1.06b in cash leading to net debt of about CN¥1.65b.

How Healthy Is Anhui Province Natural Gas DevelopmentCo.Ltd's Balance Sheet?

According to the last reported balance sheet, Anhui Province Natural Gas DevelopmentCo.Ltd had liabilities of CN¥1.01b due within 12 months, and liabilities of CN¥2.54b due beyond 12 months. Offsetting this, it had CN¥1.06b in cash and CN¥187.6m in receivables that were due within 12 months. So its liabilities outweigh the sum of its cash and (near-term) receivables by CN¥2.31b.

While this might seem like a lot, it is not so bad since Anhui Province Natural Gas DevelopmentCo.Ltd has a market capitalization of CN¥4.15b, and so it could probably strengthen its balance sheet by raising capital if it needed to. However, it is still worthwhile taking a close look at its ability to pay off debt.

We measure a company's debt load relative to its earnings power by looking at its net debt divided by its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) and by calculating how easily its earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) cover its interest expense (interest cover). Thus we consider debt relative to earnings both with and without depreciation and amortization expenses.

Anhui Province Natural Gas DevelopmentCo.Ltd's net debt is 2.7 times its EBITDA, which is a significant but still reasonable amount of leverage. But its EBIT was about 1k times its interest expense, implying the company isn't really paying a high cost to maintain that level of debt. Even were the low cost to prove unsustainable, that is a good sign. Anhui Province Natural Gas DevelopmentCo.Ltd grew its EBIT by 9.7% in the last year. Whilst that hardly knocks our socks off it is a positive when it comes to debt. When analysing debt levels, the balance sheet is the obvious place to start. But you can't view debt in total isolation; since Anhui Province Natural Gas DevelopmentCo.Ltd will need earnings to service that debt. So if you're keen to discover more about its earnings, it might be worth checking out this graph of its long term earnings trend.

Finally, a business needs free cash flow to pay off debt; accounting profits just don't cut it. So it's worth checking how much of that EBIT is backed by free cash flow. Over the last three years, Anhui Province Natural Gas DevelopmentCo.Ltd barely recorded positive free cash flow, in total. Some might say that's a concern, when it comes considering how easily it would be for it to down debt.

Our View

Neither Anhui Province Natural Gas DevelopmentCo.Ltd's ability to convert EBIT to free cash flow nor its level of total liabilities gave us confidence in its ability to take on more debt. But the good news is it seems to be able to cover its interest expense with its EBIT with ease. Looking at all the angles mentioned above, it does seem to us that Anhui Province Natural Gas DevelopmentCo.Ltd is a somewhat risky investment as a result of its debt. Not all risk is bad, as it can boost share price returns if it pays off, but this debt risk is worth keeping in mind. When analysing debt levels, the balance sheet is the obvious place to start. But ultimately, every company can contain risks that exist outside of the balance sheet. We've identified 2 warning signs with Anhui Province Natural Gas DevelopmentCo.Ltd , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.

If you're interested in investing in businesses that can grow profits without the burden of debt, then check out this free list of growing businesses that have net cash on the balance sheet.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.