Is First Sponsor Group (SGX:ADN) Using Too Much 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.' 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 First Sponsor Group Limited (SGX:ADN) does use debt in its business. But the more important question is: how much risk is that debt creating?

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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, 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. The first step when considering a company's debt levels is to consider its cash and debt together.

What Is First Sponsor Group's Debt?

As you can see below, First Sponsor Group had S$1.34b of debt at June 2025, down from S$1.42b a year prior. However, it also had S$153.0m in cash, and so its net debt is S$1.19b.

A Look At First Sponsor Group's Liabilities

The latest balance sheet data shows that First Sponsor Group had liabilities of S$1.54b due within a year, and liabilities of S$996.5m falling due after that. Offsetting these obligations, it had cash of S$153.0m as well as receivables valued at S$481.7m due within 12 months. So it has liabilities totalling S$1.90b more than its cash and near-term receivables, combined.

The deficiency here weighs heavily on the S$1.15b 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, First Sponsor Group would likely require a major re-capitalisation if it had to pay its creditors today.

See our latest analysis for First Sponsor Group

We measure a company's debt load relative to its earnings power by looking at its net debt divided by its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) and by calculating how easily its earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) cover its interest expense (interest cover). Thus we consider debt relative to earnings both with and without depreciation and amortization expenses.

First Sponsor Group shareholders face the double whammy of a high net debt to EBITDA ratio (10.0), and fairly weak interest coverage, since EBIT is just 2.3 times the interest expense. This means we'd consider it to have a heavy debt load. The good news is that First Sponsor Group grew its EBIT a smooth 81% over the last twelve months. Like the milk of human kindness that sort of growth increases resilience, making the company more capable of managing debt. There's no doubt that we learn most about debt from the balance sheet. But it is First Sponsor Group'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 business needs free cash flow to pay off debt; accounting profits just don't cut it. So it's worth checking how much of that EBIT is backed by free cash flow. During the last three years, First Sponsor Group burned a lot of cash. While that may be a result of expenditure for growth, it does make the debt far more risky.

Our View

On the face of it, First Sponsor Group's conversion of EBIT to free cash flow left us tentative about the stock, and its level of total liabilities was no more enticing than the one empty restaurant on the busiest night of the year. But on the bright side, its EBIT growth rate is a good sign, and makes us more optimistic. We're quite clear that we consider First Sponsor Group to be really rather risky, as a result of its balance sheet health. So we're almost as wary of this stock as a hungry kitten is about falling into its owner's fish pond: once bitten, twice shy, as they say. The balance sheet is clearly the area to focus on when you are analysing debt. However, not all investment risk resides within the balance sheet - far from it. Case in point: We've spotted 3 warning signs for First Sponsor Group you should be aware of, and 2 of them are significant.

When all is said and done, sometimes its easier to focus on companies that don't even need debt. Readers can access a list of growth stocks with zero net debt 100% free, right now.