Highly regarded, though always in the red (7)
I believe the answer is:
revered
'highly regarded' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'always in the red' is the wordplay.
'always' becomes 'ever' (synonyms).
'in' is an insertion indicator.
'ever' put within 'red' is 'REVERED'.
'though' is the link.
(Other definitions for revered that I've seen before include "worshipped" , "Highly respected" , "Held in awe" , "Venerated" , "Idolised" .)