Warren Buffett famously said, 'Volatility is far from synonymous with risk.' 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 China Railway Construction Heavy Industry Corporation Limited (SHSE:688425) does have debt on its balance sheet. But is this debt a concern to shareholders?

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. In the worst case scenario, a company can go bankrupt if it cannot pay its creditors. However, a more frequent (but still costly) occurrence is where a company must issue shares at bargain-basement prices, permanently diluting shareholders, just to shore up its balance sheet. Of course, debt can be an important tool in businesses, particularly capital heavy businesses. When we examine debt levels, we first consider both cash and debt levels, together.

What Is China Railway Construction Heavy Industry's Net Debt?

The image below, which you can click on for greater detail, shows that at September 2024 China Railway Construction Heavy Industry had debt of CN¥2.65b, up from CN¥2.07b in one year. However, it also had CN¥1.81b in cash, and so its net debt is CN¥835.0m.

How Healthy Is China Railway Construction Heavy Industry's Balance Sheet?

Zooming in on the latest balance sheet data, we can see that China Railway Construction Heavy Industry had liabilities of CN¥9.38b due within 12 months and liabilities of CN¥1.63b due beyond that. On the other hand, it had cash of CN¥1.81b and CN¥10.0b worth of receivables due within a year. So it can boast CN¥815.1m more liquid assets than total liabilities.

This short term liquidity is a sign that China Railway Construction Heavy Industry could probably pay off its debt with ease, as its balance sheet is far from stretched.

We use two main ratios to inform us about debt levels relative to earnings. The first is net debt divided by earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA), while the second is how many times its earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) covers its interest expense (or its interest cover, for short). Thus we consider debt relative to earnings both with and without depreciation and amortization expenses.

China Railway Construction Heavy Industry has a low debt to EBITDA ratio of only 0.41. But the really cool thing is that it actually managed to receive more interest than it paid, over the last year. So there's no doubt this company can take on debt while staying cool as a cucumber. But the bad news is that China Railway Construction Heavy Industry has seen its EBIT plunge 19% in the last twelve months. We think hat kind of performance, if repeated frequently, could well lead to difficulties for the stock. 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 China Railway Construction Heavy Industry 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.

Finally, a company can only pay off debt with cold hard cash, not accounting profits. So we always check how much of that EBIT is translated into free cash flow. Over the last three years, China Railway Construction Heavy Industry recorded negative free cash flow, in total. Debt is far more risky for companies with unreliable free cash flow, so shareholders should be hoping that the past expenditure will produce free cash flow in the future.

Our View

We feel some trepidation about China Railway Construction Heavy Industry's difficulty EBIT growth rate, but we've got positives to focus on, too. To wit both its interest cover and net debt to EBITDA were encouraging signs. We think that China Railway Construction Heavy Industry's debt does make it a bit risky, after considering the aforementioned data points together. That's not necessarily a bad thing, since leverage can boost returns on equity, but it is something to be aware of. 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. Be aware that China Railway Construction Heavy Industry is showing 2 warning signs in our investment analysis , and 1 of those can't be ignored...

When all is said and done, sometimes its easier to focus on companies that don't even need debt. Readers can access a list of growth stocks with zero net debt 100% free, right now.

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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.