Legendary fund manager Li Lu (who Charlie Munger backed) once said, '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. We note that Nanjing Red Sun Co.,Ltd. (SZSE:000525) does have debt on its balance sheet. But the real question is whether this debt is making the company risky.

When Is Debt A Problem?

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. If things get really bad, the lenders can take control of the business. 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. 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.

How Much Debt Does Nanjing Red SunLtd Carry?

As you can see below, Nanjing Red SunLtd had CN¥4.39b of debt, at March 2024, which is about the same as the year before. You can click the chart for greater detail. However, because it has a cash reserve of CN¥293.0m, its net debt is less, at about CN¥4.10b.

A Look At Nanjing Red SunLtd's Liabilities

The latest balance sheet data shows that Nanjing Red SunLtd had liabilities of CN¥7.13b due within a year, and liabilities of CN¥1.68b falling due after that. Offsetting these obligations, it had cash of CN¥293.0m as well as receivables valued at CN¥3.15b due within 12 months. So its liabilities total CN¥5.37b more than the combination of its cash and short-term receivables.

When you consider that this deficiency exceeds the company's CN¥4.19b market capitalization, you might well be inclined to review the balance sheet intently. Hypothetically, extremely heavy dilution would be required if the company were forced to pay down its liabilities by raising capital at the current share price. The balance sheet is clearly the area to focus on when you are analysing debt. But you can't view debt in total isolation; since Nanjing Red SunLtd 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.

Over 12 months, Nanjing Red SunLtd made a loss at the EBIT level, and saw its revenue drop to CN¥3.3b, which is a fall of 41%. To be frank that doesn't bode well.

Caveat Emptor

While Nanjing Red SunLtd's falling revenue is about as heartwarming as a wet blanket, arguably its earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) loss is even less appealing. Indeed, it lost a very considerable CN¥612m at the EBIT level. 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. For example, we would not want to see a repeat of last year's loss of CN¥380m. In the meantime, we consider the stock to be risky. 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. For instance, we've identified 1 warning sign for Nanjing Red SunLtd that you should be aware of.

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.