Stock investing: Cull overleveraged companies from your portfolio

At a time when revenues have been disrupted, these are the ones that could go belly up first

Warren Buffett once quipped that it is only when the tide goes out that you discover who has been swimming naked. When business conditions are easy and favourable, the stock prices of all sorts of businesses run up on the bourses.

But when the climate turns harsh, as it has currently due to the Covid-19 induced lockdown, the spotlight gets focused on businesses with flawed models.

With revenues drying up, the companies that will struggle the most in the coming days and may even go belly up are those that have resorted to heavy use of leverage to