David Iben put it well when he said, 'Volatility is not a risk we care about. What we care about is avoiding the permanent loss of capital.' 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 can see that Huayi Brothers Media Corporation (SZSE:300027) 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 is a tool to help businesses grow, but if a business is incapable of paying off its lenders, then it exists at their mercy. Part and parcel of capitalism is the process of 'creative destruction' where failed businesses are mercilessly liquidated by their bankers. 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, plenty of companies use debt to fund growth, without any negative consequences. The first thing to do when considering how much debt a business uses is to look at its cash and debt together.

What Is Huayi Brothers Media's Debt?

As you can see below, Huayi Brothers Media had CN¥1.49b of debt at September 2023, down from CN¥1.56b a year prior. However, it does have CN¥278.0m in cash offsetting this, leading to net debt of about CN¥1.22b.

A Look At Huayi Brothers Media's Liabilities

We can see from the most recent balance sheet that Huayi Brothers Media had liabilities of CN¥2.71b falling due within a year, and liabilities of CN¥975.4m due beyond that. On the other hand, it had cash of CN¥278.0m and CN¥280.4m worth of receivables due within a year. So its liabilities outweigh the sum of its cash and (near-term) receivables by CN¥3.13b.

Huayi Brothers Media has a market capitalization of CN¥6.33b, so it could very likely raise cash to ameliorate its balance sheet, if the need arose. However, it is still worthwhile taking a close look at its ability to pay off debt. The balance sheet is clearly the area to focus on when you are analysing debt. But it is future earnings, more than anything, that will determine Huayi Brothers Media's ability to maintain a healthy balance sheet going forward. So if you want to see what the professionals think, you might find this free report on analyst profit forecasts to be interesting.

In the last year Huayi Brothers Media had a loss before interest and tax, and actually shrunk its revenue by 37%, to CN¥513m. That makes us nervous, to say the least.

Caveat Emptor

Not only did Huayi Brothers Media's revenue slip over the last twelve months, but it also produced negative earnings before interest and tax (EBIT). To be specific the EBIT loss came in at CN¥464m. Considering that alongside the liabilities mentioned above does not give us much confidence that company should be using so much debt. So we think its balance sheet is a little strained, though not beyond repair. For example, we would not want to see a repeat of last year's loss of CN¥1.0b. So to be blunt we do think it is risky. For riskier companies like Huayi Brothers Media 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, after all that, you're more interested in a fast growing company with a rock-solid balance sheet, then check out our list of net cash growth stocks without delay.

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