Does C21 Investments (CSE:CXXI) Have A Healthy Balance Sheet?

Warren Buffett famously said, 'Volatility is far from synonymous with risk.' So it seems the smart money knows that debt - which is usually involved in bankruptcies - is a very important factor, when you assess how risky a company is. As with many other companies C21 Investments Inc. (CSE:CXXI) makes use of debt. But should shareholders be worried about its use of debt?

What Risk Does Debt Bring?

Generally speaking, debt only becomes a real problem when a company can't easily pay it off, either by raising capital or with its own cash flow. Part and parcel of capitalism is the process of 'creative destruction' where failed businesses are mercilessly liquidated by their bankers. 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. The first thing to do when considering how much debt a business uses is to look at its cash and debt together.

See our latest analysis for C21 Investments

What Is C21 Investments's Net Debt?

As you can see below, C21 Investments had US$11.4m of debt at October 2021, down from US$25.3m a year prior. However, it also had US$3.28m in cash, and so its net debt is US$8.14m.

How Strong Is C21 Investments' Balance Sheet?

Zooming in on the latest balance sheet data, we can see that C21 Investments had liabilities of US$13.4m due within 12 months and liabilities of US$15.4m due beyond that. Offsetting these obligations, it had cash of US$3.28m as well as receivables valued at US$233.8k due within 12 months. So it has liabilities totalling US$25.3m more than its cash and near-term receivables, combined.

C21 Investments has a market capitalization of US$58.2m, so it could very likely raise cash to ameliorate its balance sheet, if the need arose. But it's clear that we should definitely closely examine whether it can manage its debt without dilution.

In order to size up a company's debt relative to its earnings, we calculate its net debt divided by its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) and its earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) divided by its interest expense (its interest cover). Thus we consider debt relative to earnings both with and without depreciation and amortization expenses.

While C21 Investments's low debt to EBITDA ratio of 0.69 suggests only modest use of debt, the fact that EBIT only covered the interest expense by 2.5 times last year does give us pause. So we'd recommend keeping a close eye on the impact financing costs are having on the business. Notably, C21 Investments's EBIT launched higher than Elon Musk, gaining a whopping 104% on last year. There's no doubt that we learn most about debt from the balance sheet. But it is C21 Investments's earnings that will influence how the balance sheet holds up in the future. 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. Happily for any shareholders, C21 Investments 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

The good news is that C21 Investments's demonstrated ability to convert EBIT to free cash flow delights us like a fluffy puppy does a toddler. But we must concede we find its interest cover has the opposite effect. Taking all this data into account, it seems to us that C21 Investments takes a pretty sensible approach to debt. That means they are taking on a bit more risk, in the hope of boosting shareholder returns. 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. To that end, you should be aware of the 2 warning signs we've spotted with C21 Investments .

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.