Warren Buffett famously said, 'Volatility is far from synonymous with risk.' So it might be obvious that you need to consider debt, when you think about how risky any given stock is, because too much debt can sink a company. As with many other companies Hainan Meilan International Airport Company Limited (HKG:357) makes use of debt. But is this debt a concern to shareholders?

When Is Debt Dangerous?

Generally speaking, debt only becomes a real problem when a company can't easily pay it off, either by raising capital or with its own cash flow. 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. Of course, debt can be an important tool in businesses, particularly capital heavy businesses. When we think about a company's use of debt, we first look at cash and debt together.

How Much Debt Does Hainan Meilan International Airport Carry?

As you can see below, Hainan Meilan International Airport had CN¥2.21b of debt, at June 2024, which is about the same as the year before. You can click the chart for greater detail. And it doesn't have much cash, so its net debt is about the same.

A Look At Hainan Meilan International Airport's Liabilities

Zooming in on the latest balance sheet data, we can see that Hainan Meilan International Airport had liabilities of CN¥5.59b due within 12 months and liabilities of CN¥1.17b due beyond that. On the other hand, it had cash of CN¥40.5m and CN¥404.2m worth of receivables due within a year. So its liabilities outweigh the sum of its cash and (near-term) receivables by CN¥6.31b.

The deficiency here weighs heavily on the CN¥3.87b company itself, as if a child were struggling under the weight of an enormous back-pack full of books, his sports gear, and a trumpet. So we definitely think shareholders need to watch this one closely. After all, Hainan Meilan International Airport would likely require a major re-capitalisation if it had to pay its creditors today. There's no doubt that we learn most about debt from the balance sheet. But it is future earnings, more than anything, that will determine Hainan Meilan International Airport's ability to maintain a healthy balance sheet going forward. So if you're focused on the future you can check out this free report showing analyst profit forecasts.

In the last year Hainan Meilan International Airport wasn't profitable at an EBIT level, but managed to grow its revenue by 37%, to CN¥2.2b. Shareholders probably have their fingers crossed that it can grow its way to profits.

Caveat Emptor

Even though Hainan Meilan International Airport managed to grow its top line quite deftly, the cold hard truth is that it is losing money on the EBIT line. To be specific the EBIT loss came in at CN¥14m. When we look at that alongside the significant liabilities, we're not particularly confident about the company. We'd want to see some strong near-term improvements before getting too interested in the stock. Not least because it burned through CN¥106m in negative free cash flow over the last year. So suffice it to say we consider the stock to be risky. When analysing debt levels, the balance sheet is the obvious place to start. However, not all investment risk resides within the balance sheet - far from it. For example, we've discovered 1 warning sign for Hainan Meilan International Airport that you should be aware of before investing here.

Of course, if you're the type of investor who prefers buying stocks without the burden of debt, then don't hesitate to discover our exclusive list of net cash growth stocks, today.

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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.