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.' When we think about how risky a company is, we always like to look at its use of debt, since debt overload can lead to ruin. As with many other companies Tianjin Troila Information Technology Co.,Ltd. (SHSE:600225) makes use of debt. But the more important question is: how much risk is that debt creating?

Why Does Debt Bring Risk?

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. Ultimately, if the company can't fulfill its legal obligations to repay debt, shareholders could walk away with nothing. 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, the upside of debt is that it often represents cheap capital, especially when it replaces dilution in a company with the ability to reinvest at high rates of return. The first step when considering a company's debt levels is to consider its cash and debt together.

View our latest analysis for Tianjin Troila Information TechnologyLtd

How Much Debt Does Tianjin Troila Information TechnologyLtd Carry?

The image below, which you can click on for greater detail, shows that at June 2023 Tianjin Troila Information TechnologyLtd had debt of CN¥2.41b, up from CN¥1.89b in one year. On the flip side, it has CN¥1.42b in cash leading to net debt of about CN¥996.5m.

A Look At Tianjin Troila Information TechnologyLtd's Liabilities

We can see from the most recent balance sheet that Tianjin Troila Information TechnologyLtd had liabilities of CN¥3.87b falling due within a year, and liabilities of CN¥823.1m due beyond that. On the other hand, it had cash of CN¥1.42b and CN¥905.8m worth of receivables due within a year. So it has liabilities totalling CN¥2.37b more than its cash and near-term receivables, combined.

Since publicly traded Tianjin Troila Information TechnologyLtd shares are worth a total of CN¥16.7b, 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.

We measure a company's debt load relative to its earnings power by looking at its net debt divided by its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) and by calculating how easily its earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) cover its interest expense (interest cover). The advantage of this approach is that we take into account both the absolute quantum of debt (with net debt to EBITDA) and the actual interest expenses associated with that debt (with its interest cover ratio).

Tianjin Troila Information TechnologyLtd's net debt is 3.8 times its EBITDA, which is a significant but still reasonable amount of leverage. However, its interest coverage of 1k is very high, suggesting that the interest expense on the debt is currently quite low. Pleasingly, Tianjin Troila Information TechnologyLtd is growing its EBIT faster than former Australian PM Bob Hawke downs a yard glass, boasting a 2,090% gain in the last twelve months. There's no doubt that we learn most about debt from the balance sheet. But you can't view debt in total isolation; since Tianjin Troila Information TechnologyLtd will need earnings to service that debt. So when considering debt, it's definitely worth looking at the earnings trend. Click here for an interactive snapshot.

Finally, a company can only pay off debt with cold hard cash, not accounting profits. So we clearly need to look at whether that EBIT is leading to corresponding free cash flow. Happily for any shareholders, Tianjin Troila Information TechnologyLtd actually produced more free cash flow than EBIT over the last two years. That sort of strong cash conversion gets us as excited as the crowd when the beat drops at a Daft Punk concert.

Our View

Happily, Tianjin Troila Information TechnologyLtd's impressive interest cover implies it has the upper hand on its debt. But truth be told we feel its net debt to EBITDA does undermine this impression a bit. Zooming out, Tianjin Troila Information TechnologyLtd seems to use debt quite reasonably; and that gets the nod from us. While debt does bring risk, when used wisely it can also bring a higher return on equity. There's no doubt that we learn most about debt from the balance sheet. But ultimately, every company can contain risks that exist outside of the balance sheet. Case in point: We've spotted 2 warning signs for Tianjin Troila Information TechnologyLtd 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.