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The external fund manager backed by Berkshire Hathaway's Charlie Munger, Li Lu, makes no bones about it when he says 'The biggest investment risk is not the volatility of prices, but whether you will suffer a permanent loss of capital.' 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 Calibre Mining Corp. (TSE:CXB) does use debt in its business. But should shareholders be worried about its use of debt?

Debt assists a business until the business has trouble paying it off, either with new capital or with free cash flow. In the worst case scenario, a company can go bankrupt if it cannot pay its creditors. However, a more frequent (but still costly) occurrence is where a company must issue shares at bargain-basement prices, permanently diluting shareholders, just to shore up its balance sheet. 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.

Check out our latest analysis for Calibre Mining

You can click the graphic below for the historical numbers, but it shows that as of June 2023 Calibre Mining had US$15.4m of debt, an increase on none, over one year. However, it does have US$76.9m in cash offsetting this, leading to net cash of US$61.5m.

Zooming in on the latest balance sheet data, we can see that Calibre Mining had liabilities of US$66.0m due within 12 months and liabilities of US$156.0m due beyond that. Offsetting this, it had US$76.9m in cash and US$8.03m in receivables that were due within 12 months. So its liabilities total US$137.2m more than the combination of its cash and short-term receivables.

While this might seem like a lot, it is not so bad since Calibre Mining has a market capitalization of US$491.7m, and so it could probably strengthen its balance sheet by raising capital if it needed to. But we definitely want to keep our eyes open to indications that its debt is bringing too much risk. While it does have liabilities worth noting, Calibre Mining also has more cash than debt, so we're pretty confident it can manage its debt safely.

And we also note warmly that Calibre Mining grew its EBIT by 16% last year, making its debt load easier to handle. When analysing debt levels, the balance sheet is the obvious place to start. But it is future earnings, more than anything, that will determine Calibre Mining's ability to maintain a healthy balance sheet going forward. So if you want to see what the professionals think, you might find this free report on analyst profit forecasts to be interesting.

Finally, a company can only pay off debt with cold hard cash, not accounting profits. Calibre Mining may have net cash on the balance sheet, but it is still interesting to look at how well the business converts its earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) to free cash flow, because that will influence both its need for, and its capacity to manage debt. In the last three years, Calibre Mining created free cash flow amounting to 7.5% of its EBIT, an uninspiring performance. That limp level of cash conversion undermines its ability to manage and pay down debt.

Although Calibre Mining's balance sheet isn't particularly strong, due to the total liabilities, it is clearly positive to see that it has net cash of US$61.5m. And it impressed us with its EBIT growth of 16% over the last year. So we are not troubled with Calibre Mining's debt use. 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. For example, we've discovered 1 warning sign for Calibre Mining that you should be aware of before investing here.

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.

Find out whether Calibre Mining is potentially over or undervalued by checking out our comprehensive analysis, which includes fair value estimates, risks and warnings, dividends, insider transactions and financial health.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

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.

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Here's Why Calibre Mining (TSE:CXB) Can Manage Its Debt Responsibly - Simply Wall St