Health Check: How Prudently Does Winhitech (KOSDAQ:192390) Use Debt?
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 might be obvious that you need to consider debt, when you think about how risky any given stock is, because too much debt can sink a company. Importantly, Winhitech Co., Ltd. (KOSDAQ:192390) does carry debt. But is this debt a concern to shareholders?
What Risk Does Debt Bring?
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 common (but still painful) scenario is that it has to raise new equity capital at a low price, thus permanently diluting shareholders. 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 think about a company's use of debt, we first look at cash and debt together.
What Is Winhitech's Debt?
You can click the graphic below for the historical numbers, but it shows that as of September 2025 Winhitech had ₩64.4b of debt, an increase on ₩51.9b, over one year. However, because it has a cash reserve of ₩28.3b, its net debt is less, at about ₩36.1b.
How Strong Is Winhitech's Balance Sheet?
We can see from the most recent balance sheet that Winhitech had liabilities of ₩61.2b falling due within a year, and liabilities of ₩16.4b due beyond that. On the other hand, it had cash of ₩28.3b and ₩11.1b worth of receivables due within a year. So it has liabilities totalling ₩38.2b more than its cash and near-term receivables, combined.
The deficiency here weighs heavily on the ₩25.2b company itself, as if a child were struggling under the weight of an enormous back-pack full of books, his sports gear, and a trumpet. So we'd watch its balance sheet closely, without a doubt. After all, Winhitech would likely require a major re-capitalisation if it had to pay its creditors today. The balance sheet is clearly the area to focus on when you are analysing debt. But you can't view debt in total isolation; since Winhitech 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.
Check out our latest analysis for Winhitech
In the last year Winhitech had a loss before interest and tax, and actually shrunk its revenue by 38%, to ₩81b. That makes us nervous, to say the least.
Caveat Emptor
Not only did Winhitech's revenue slip over the last twelve months, but it also produced negative earnings before interest and tax (EBIT). Its EBIT loss was a whopping ₩5.6b. Considering that alongside the liabilities mentioned above make us nervous about the company. We'd want to see some strong near-term improvements before getting too interested in the stock. Not least because it had negative free cash flow of ₩7.9b over the last twelve months. That means it's on the risky side of things. There's no doubt that we learn most about debt from the balance sheet. However, not all investment risk resides within the balance sheet - far from it. These risks can be hard to spot. Every company has them, and we've spotted 3 warning signs for Winhitech (of which 2 can't be ignored!) you should know about.
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.