David Iben put it well when he said, 'Volatility is not a risk we care about. What we care about is avoiding the 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 can see that Palred Technologies Limited (NSE:PALREDTEC) does use debt in its business. But the real question is whether this debt is making the company risky.
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. 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. 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. When we examine debt levels, we first consider both cash and debt levels, together.
Check out our latest analysis for Palred Technologies
How Much Debt Does Palred Technologies Carry?
The image below, which you can click on for greater detail, shows that at September 2023 Palred Technologies had debt of ₹647.6m, up from ₹458.5m in one year. However, it also had ₹512.4m in cash, and so its net debt is ₹135.2m.
A Look At Palred Technologies' Liabilities
We can see from the most recent balance sheet that Palred Technologies had liabilities of ₹769.7m falling due within a year, and liabilities of ₹45.9m due beyond that. Offsetting these obligations, it had cash of ₹512.4m as well as receivables valued at ₹421.0m due within 12 months. So it can boast ₹117.8m more liquid assets than total liabilities.
This surplus suggests that Palred Technologies has a conservative balance sheet, and could probably eliminate its debt without much difficulty. When analysing debt levels, the balance sheet is the obvious place to start. But you can't view debt in total isolation; since Palred Technologies 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, Palred Technologies saw its revenue hold pretty steady, and it did not report positive earnings before interest and tax. While that hardly impresses, its not too bad either.
Caveat Emptor
Over the last twelve months Palred Technologies produced an earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) loss. Indeed, it lost ₹6.2m at the EBIT level. On a more positive note, the company does have liquid assets, so it has a bit of time to improve its operations before the debt becomes an acute problem. But we'd want to see some positive free cashflow before spending much time on trying to understand the stock. So it seems too risky for our taste. 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. Case in point: We've spotted 2 warning signs for Palred Technologies 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.
About NSEI:PALREDTEC
Mediocre balance sheet and slightly overvalued.
