The external fund manager backed by Berkshire Hathaway's Charlie Munger, Li Lu, makes no bones about it when he says 'The biggest investment risk is not the volatility of prices, but whether you will suffer a permanent loss of capital.' It's only natural to consider a company's balance sheet when you examine how risky it is, since debt is often involved when a business collapses. As with many other companies Nations Technologies Inc. (SZSE:300077) makes use of debt. But is this debt a concern to shareholders?

When Is Debt A Problem?

Debt assists a business until the business has trouble paying it off, either with new capital or with free cash flow. In the worst case scenario, a company can go bankrupt if it cannot pay its creditors. While that is not too common, we often do see indebted companies permanently diluting shareholders because lenders force them to raise capital at a distressed price. Having said that, the most common situation is where a company manages its debt reasonably well - and to its own advantage. The first thing to do when considering how much debt a business uses is to look at its cash and debt together.

See our latest analysis for Nations Technologies

What Is Nations Technologies's Debt?

The image below, which you can click on for greater detail, shows that at June 2023 Nations Technologies had debt of CN¥1.44b, up from CN¥648.0m in one year. However, it does have CN¥891.1m in cash offsetting this, leading to net debt of about CN¥548.7m.

A Look At Nations Technologies' Liabilities

The latest balance sheet data shows that Nations Technologies had liabilities of CN¥1.21b due within a year, and liabilities of CN¥1.30b falling due after that. On the other hand, it had cash of CN¥891.1m and CN¥427.0m worth of receivables due within a year. So its liabilities outweigh the sum of its cash and (near-term) receivables by CN¥1.19b.

Since publicly traded Nations Technologies shares are worth a total of CN¥6.71b, it seems unlikely that this level of liabilities would be a major threat. Having said that, it's clear that we should continue to monitor its balance sheet, lest it change for the worse. When analysing debt levels, the balance sheet is the obvious place to start. But you can't view debt in total isolation; since Nations Technologies 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.

In the last year Nations Technologies had a loss before interest and tax, and actually shrunk its revenue by 26%, to CN¥1.0b. That makes us nervous, to say the least.

Caveat Emptor

Not only did Nations Technologies's revenue slip over the last twelve months, but it also produced negative earnings before interest and tax (EBIT). Indeed, it lost CN¥353m at the EBIT level. When we look at that and recall the liabilities on its balance sheet, relative to cash, it seems unwise to us for the company to have any debt. So we think its balance sheet is a little strained, though not beyond repair. Another cause for caution is that is bled CN¥692m in negative free cash flow over the last twelve months. So in short it's a really risky stock. For riskier companies like Nations Technologies I always like to keep an eye on the long term profit and revenue trends. Fortunately, you can click to see our interactive graph of its profit, revenue, and operating cashflow.

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.