Howard Marks put it nicely when he said that, rather than worrying about share price volatility, 'The possibility of permanent loss is the risk I worry about... and every practical investor I know worries about.' 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. We note that Topsports International Holdings Limited (HKG:6110) does have debt on its balance sheet. But is this debt a concern to shareholders?

Why Does Debt Bring Risk?

Debt assists a business until the business has trouble paying it off, either with new capital or with free cash flow. Ultimately, if the company can't fulfill its legal obligations to repay debt, shareholders could walk away with nothing. However, a more common (but still painful) scenario is that it has to raise new equity capital at a low price, thus permanently diluting shareholders. Of course, the upside of debt is that it often represents cheap capital, especially when it replaces dilution in a company with the ability to reinvest at high rates of return. The first step when considering a company's debt levels is to consider its cash and debt together.

What Is Topsports International Holdings's Debt?

As you can see below, at the end of August 2024, Topsports International Holdings had CN¥950.0m of debt, up from CN¥840.0m a year ago. Click the image for more detail. But it also has CN¥2.84b in cash to offset that, meaning it has CN¥1.89b net cash.

How Strong Is Topsports International Holdings' Balance Sheet?

Zooming in on the latest balance sheet data, we can see that Topsports International Holdings had liabilities of CN¥3.89b due within 12 months and liabilities of CN¥1.52b due beyond that. Offsetting this, it had CN¥2.84b in cash and CN¥1.31b in receivables that were due within 12 months. So its liabilities outweigh the sum of its cash and (near-term) receivables by CN¥1.26b.

Of course, Topsports International Holdings has a market capitalization of CN¥15.9b, so these liabilities are probably manageable. Having said that, it's clear that we should continue to monitor its balance sheet, lest it change for the worse. While it does have liabilities worth noting, Topsports International Holdings also has more cash than debt, so we're pretty confident it can manage its debt safely.

But the bad news is that Topsports International Holdings has seen its EBIT plunge 14% in the last twelve months. We think hat kind of performance, if repeated frequently, could well lead to difficulties for the stock. There's no doubt that we learn most about debt from the balance sheet. But ultimately the future profitability of the business will decide if Topsports International Holdings can strengthen its balance sheet over time. So if you're focused on the future you can check out this free report showing analyst profit forecasts.

Finally, while the tax-man may adore accounting profits, lenders only accept cold hard cash. While Topsports International Holdings has net cash on its balance sheet, it's still worth taking a look at its ability to convert earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) to free cash flow, to help us understand how quickly it is building (or eroding) that cash balance. Happily for any shareholders, Topsports International Holdings actually produced more free cash flow than EBIT over the last three years. That sort of strong cash generation warms our hearts like a puppy in a bumblebee suit.

Summing Up

While it is always sensible to look at a company's total liabilities, it is very reassuring that Topsports International Holdings has CN¥1.89b in net cash. And it impressed us with free cash flow of CN¥2.8b, being 148% of its EBIT. So we are not troubled with Topsports International Holdings's debt use. There's no doubt that we learn most about debt from the balance sheet. But ultimately, every company can contain risks that exist outside of the balance sheet. These risks can be hard to spot. Every company has them, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for Topsports International Holdings you should know about.

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.