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. As with many other companies AIM Vaccine Co., Ltd. (HKG:6660) makes use of debt. 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. However, a more usual (but still expensive) situation is where a company must dilute shareholders at a cheap share price simply to get debt under control. By replacing dilution, though, debt can be an extremely good tool for businesses that need capital to invest in growth at high rates of return. When we think about a company's use of debt, we first look at cash and debt together.

What Is AIM Vaccine's Debt?

You can click the graphic below for the historical numbers, but it shows that as of December 2023 AIM Vaccine had CN¥1.76b of debt, an increase on CN¥1.35b, over one year. However, because it has a cash reserve of CN¥736.4m, its net debt is less, at about CN¥1.03b.

How Healthy Is AIM Vaccine's Balance Sheet?

Zooming in on the latest balance sheet data, we can see that AIM Vaccine had liabilities of CN¥2.60b due within 12 months and liabilities of CN¥770.5m due beyond that. Offsetting this, it had CN¥736.4m in cash and CN¥1.04b in receivables that were due within 12 months. So its liabilities outweigh the sum of its cash and (near-term) receivables by CN¥1.60b.

Of course, AIM Vaccine has a market capitalization of CN¥9.31b, 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. When analysing debt levels, the balance sheet is the obvious place to start. But ultimately the future profitability of the business will decide if AIM Vaccine can strengthen its balance sheet over time. 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 AIM Vaccine had a loss before interest and tax, and actually shrunk its revenue by 6.1%, to CN¥1.2b. That's not what we would hope to see.

Caveat Emptor

Over the last twelve months AIM Vaccine produced an earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) loss. Indeed, it lost CN¥488m 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. Quite frankly we think the balance sheet is far from match-fit, although it could be improved with time. We would feel better if it turned its trailing twelve month loss of CN¥1.3b into a profit. So to be blunt we do think it is 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. To that end, you should be aware of the 1 warning sign we've spotted with AIM Vaccine .

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.