Yahoo Finance We Think Green Growth Brands (CNSX:GGB) Has A Fair Chunk Of Debt
Some say volatility, rather than debt, is the best way to think about risk as an investor, but Warren Buffett famously said that '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. We can see that Green Growth Brands Inc. (CNSX:GGB) does use debt in its business. But the more important question is: how much risk is that debt creating?
When Is Debt A Problem?
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. If things get really bad, the lenders can take control of the business. 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, debt can be an important tool in businesses, particularly capital heavy businesses. When we think about a company's use of debt, we first look at cash and debt together.
See our latest analysis for Green Growth Brands
What Is Green Growth Brands's Debt?
As you can see below, Green Growth Brands had US$87.4m of debt, at June 2019, which is about the same the year before. You can click the chart for greater detail. However, because it has a cash reserve of US$10.3m, its net debt is less, at about US$77.1m.
A Look At Green Growth Brands's Liabilities
Zooming in on the latest balance sheet data, we can see that Green Growth Brands had liabilities of US$105.8m due within 12 months and liabilities of US$1.44m due beyond that. Offsetting these obligations, it had cash of US$10.3m as well as receivables valued at US$3.64m due within 12 months. So it has liabilities totalling US$93.4m more than its cash and near-term receivables, combined.
This deficit isn't so bad because Green Growth Brands is worth US$246.1m, and thus could probably raise enough capital to shore up its balance sheet, if the need arose. However, it is still worthwhile taking a close look at its ability to pay off debt. When analysing debt levels, the balance sheet is the obvious place to start. But ultimately the future profitability of the business will decide if Green Growth Brands 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.
Over 12 months, Green Growth Brands 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
Importantly, Green Growth Brands had negative earnings before interest and tax (EBIT), over the last year. Indeed, it lost a very considerable US$50m 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. However, it doesn't help that it burned through US$66m of cash over the last year. So in short it's a really risky stock. When we look at a riskier company, we like to check how their profits (or losses) are trending over time. Today, we're providing readers this interactive graph showing how Green Growth Brands's profit, revenue, and operating cashflow have changed over the last few years.
If, after all that, you're more interested in a fast growing company with a rock-solid balance sheet, then check out our list of net cash growth stocks without delay.
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