Driven by negative free cash flow, the company is currently loss-making, micro-cap size, which brings thin liquidity.
In simple words: The company is currently losing money, though profits are falling even as sales grow. Cash generation is currently the main factor to watch.
The 60-second version of Apollo Pipes Limited — what it does, how it earns, and who it competes with, before any of the numbers below.
What does this company do?
Apollo Pipes Limited manufactures and trades in polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipes and fittings in India.
IndustryBuilding Products & Equipment
SectorIndustrials
Employees719
Annual revenue₹1,101 Cr
How does it make money?
Turns over ₹1,101 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹1 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹6 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 719 employees supports ₹1.53 Cr of revenue a year, the signature of a capital- or asset-led business.
Revenue / employee₹1.53 Cr
Who are its competitors?
The closest listed comparisons in its industry are LARSEN & TOUBRO LTD., SIEMENS LTD, ABB INDIA LIMITED. These are the companies its valuation and returns are measured against elsewhere in this report.
What is its competitive advantage?Little sign of one
Returns on capital of 1.3% are at or below what the capital likely costs. That is the financial pattern of a business competing largely on price, where advantage has to come from execution rather than position.
Peer median ROE15.2%
What is the outlook?
4 analysts covering the stock expect revenue to grow about 20.9% and earnings to grow about 118.7% in the year to 2028. These are estimates by people who follow the company, not a forecast for the wider industry.
Est. revenue growth+20.9%
Est. earnings growth+118.7%
Analysts4
What has been driving growth?
Profit has moved mainly because margins changed, not because the business sold much more. Over 3 years revenue moved +21% while net margin moved -74% relative to itself. What this cannot tell you is which products, customers or geographies did the work — that lives in the segment disclosures of the annual report.
Revenue effect+21%
Margin effect-74%
DalalBaazaar Score
34/ 100
Weak
Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.
✗ ROE of 0.9% is weak
✗ ROE has fallen by 4.3 points over the period
Quality vs. Valuation
Company Quality
33/ 100
Weak
How good the business is, ignoring the share price entirely.
vs
Valuation
25/ 100
Expensive
What you are being asked to pay, ignoring how good the business is.
Weak on business quality and not cheap enough to compensate.
vs. its own history
Not enough price and earnings history
vs. sector peers
Not enough peers with a usable P/E
vs. generic bands
N/A
No P/E — the company is lossmaking
EV/EBITDA
38.9x
PEG
—
What's Good / What's Bad
🟢 What's Going Well2
Very low debt
Debt/Equity of 0.14x leaves the balance sheet with plenty of headroom.
Consistently profitable
Profitable in every one of the last 4 reported years.
🔴 What Needs Attention2
Return on equity is falling
ROE has dropped from 5.2% to 0.9% — each rupee of shareholder capital earns less than it did.
Return on capital is falling
ROCE has declined from 9.0% to 1.3% — often a sign of competition or overexpansion.
Red Flags
6 items require attention · 1 high · 5 watch
🔴Debt has risen sharplyFinancial
Total debt is up 183% over 3 years, from ₹44 Cr to ₹124 Cr.
🟡Interest coverage is deterioratingFinancial
Cover has fallen from 22.4x to 4.2x.
🟡Free cash flow is negativeFinancial
Free cash flow was -₹116 Cr in the latest year.
🟡Profit is decliningFinancial
Net profit is down 69% over 3 years.
🟡Margins are compressingFinancial
EBITDA margin is down 2.1 points over 3 years.
🟡Receivables growing faster than salesFinancial
Receivables up 57% against revenue up 21% — sales are being booked faster than they are collected.
Investment Thesis
🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?
Earnings have proved durable
Profitable in every one of the last 4 reported years. Consistency lowers the risk that any single bad year is structural rather than cyclical.
🔴 Bear CaseWhat could go wrong?
Margins are being competed away
EBITDA margin has fallen from 7.7% to 5.5%. If the trend continues, profit falls even on flat sales — and margin decline rarely reverses quickly.
Sales are being booked faster than collected
Receivables are up 57% against revenue up 21%. If customers keep taking longer to pay, reported profit will not turn into cash — and write-offs follow if some never do.
Growth barely outpaces inflation
Revenue compounding at 6.5% a year is close to the rate prices rise, so the business is gaining little ground in real terms. That leaves the share price dependent on a re-rating rather than on earnings growth.
Returns on shareholder capital are falling
ROE has dropped from 5.2% to 0.9%. Each rupee of equity earns less than it did, so profit growth increasingly depends on raising more capital rather than on the existing base working harder.
Size brings its own risk
Micro Cap businesses are thinly traded, so exits are harder in a falling market and single events move the price more than they would for a larger company.
🟡 Key Things to WatchMeasurable tripwires, set against where this company stands today
1EBITDA margin holds above 4%✓ 5.5%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
2Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x✗ 2.0x
The ratio lenders write covenants against; it survives a small or negative equity base, unlike Debt/Equity.
3Free cash flow remains positive✗ -₹116 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
4Revenue growth stays above 5% a year✓ 6.5% CAGR
Latest reported year was 7.4%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.
5ROCE stays above 8%✗ 1.3%
Falling returns on capital are usually competition arriving, and show up here before they reach the margin.
Investment Checklist
5 / 12 checks passed
✗ Strong return on equity (ROE ≥ 15%)
✗ Strong return on capital employed (ROCE ≥ 15%)
✗ Healthy net margin (≥ 10%)
✗ Generates positive free cash flow
✓ Manageable leverage (Debt/Equity < 1.0)
✓ Adequate short-term liquidity (Current Ratio ≥ 1.0)
✓ Revenue growing year-over-year
✗ Profit growing year-over-year
✓ Not trading at an extreme valuation (P/E < 40x)
✓ Not buying right at the 52-week high
✗ Analyst consensus isn't majority-sell
✗ Short-term technical trend isn't bearish
Price history
Quick Metrics
1 good · 4 neutral · 6 weak
Market Cap
₹2,332 Cr
Micro Cap
Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here
P/E (Trailing)
Not meaningful
Loss-making
Earnings are negative, so a P/E multiple can't be read here
P/B Ratio
2.86x
Fair
Moderate premium to the company's book value
EPS (TTM)
₹-3.26
Loss-making
Negative earnings per share — the business is losing money
ROE
0.9%
Weak
Weak capital efficiency
ROCE
1.3%
Weak
Low return on total capital employed
Debt/Equity
0.14x
Low
Conservative leverage
Revenue Growth (YoY)
7.4%
Modest
Modest growth
Profit Growth (YoY)
-77.1%
Falling
Profits are shrinking
Dividend Yield
0.13%
Modest
Small cash return — most of the return has to come from the price
Free Cash Flow
-₹116 Cr
Cash burning
Spending more cash than the operations bring in
More Metrics
P/E (Forward)
38.5x
Operating Margin
-4.0%
Weak
Thin margins leave little room for error
Net Margin
-0.8%
Weak
Very little revenue reaches the bottom line
Current Ratio
1.37
Comfortable
Healthy short-term liquidity
Beta (vs Nifty)
0.18
Defensive
Steadier than the market
52W Range Position
67%
Mid-range
Mid-range
Technical Snapshot
SMA 20 / SMA 50
525.0 / 553.4
Bearish alignment (short < long)
Price vs SMA 200
Above
Long-term uptrend
RSI (14)
57.4
Neutral momentum
Financial Trend (4-Year)
Metric
FY23
FY24
FY25
FY26
3Y CAGR
Revenue
₹911 Cr
₹982 Cr
₹1,178 Cr
₹1,101 Cr
+6.5%
EBITDA
₹70 Cr
₹99 Cr
₹90 Cr
₹61 Cr
-4.4%
EBITDA Margin
7.7%
10.1%
7.7%
5.5%
—
PAT (Net Profit)
₹24 Cr
₹43 Cr
₹33 Cr
₹7 Cr
-32.1%
EPS
₹6.08
₹10.59
₹7.74
₹1.06
-44.1%
ROE
5.2%
7.4%
4.1%
0.9%
—
ROCE
9.0%
10.2%
5.1%
1.3%
—
Total Debt
₹44 Cr
₹82 Cr
₹94 Cr
₹124 Cr
+41.5%
Free Cash Flow
-₹4 Cr
₹26 Cr
-₹111 Cr
-₹116 Cr
—
🟢 Revenue has grown at 6.5% a year over 3 years.
🔴 EBITDA has shrunk at 4.4% a year over 3 years.
🔴 EBITDA Margin has fallen from 7.7% to 5.5% over 3 years (-2.1 pts).
🔴 PAT (Net Profit) has shrunk at 32.1% a year over 3 years.
🔴 EPS has shrunk at 44.1% a year over 3 years.
🔴 ROE has fallen from 5.2% to 0.9% over 3 years (-4.3 pts).
🔴 ROCE has fallen from 9.0% to 1.3% over 3 years (-7.6 pts).
🔴 Total Debt has grown at 41.5% a year over 3 years.
Poor scores on business quality without a price low enough to compensate. There is no obvious argument for owning this over a stronger company at a similar valuation. 1 high-severity red flag sits above this conclusion and should be read first.
3 of 5 tripwires tripped — Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x; Free cash flow remains positive; ROCE stays above 8% · see Key things to watch ↑
