A growing sector peer would not usually owe more than it owns

GRIP LEANGEN AS, a Trondheim limited company, grew revenue by 9.7% to NOK 20.8m in FY2025. The balance sheet went the other way. Equity stood at NOK -10.7m at year end, against NOK -3.4m a year earlier, and the equity ratio fell to -321.2%. The net loss widened to NOK 7.2m from NOK 3.9m. Total assets shrank to NOK 3.3m from NOK 13.6m. Cash barely moved, at NOK 162k. The operating loss was smaller at NOK 4.1m, so the deeper net loss came from items below operating profit.

Equity turns negative when accumulated losses exceed everything the owners have put in. Companies can keep trading in this state, but only while owners, a parent or lenders keep funding them. The accounts do not show who that is here. A new chief executive and new board members have taken over, which I would treat as context, not as a verdict. I would watch the cash line, as NOK 162k is thin against revenue of NOK 20.8m. Growing sales cannot repair a balance sheet that owes more than it owns.