Aptech Limited

Consumer Defensive — Education & Training Services · NSE

₹86.00−₹0.99 (−1.14%)

DalalBaazaar Score

46 / 100

🟡 Moderate

Verdict

NEUTRAL

Risk

High

Driven by high debt relative to equity, micro-cap size, which brings thin liquidity.

In simple words: Reasonable but unspectacular business quality, with both sales and profits growing well. Debt is the main factor to watch.

Decision support, not a buy or sell call.

As of 18 Oct 2026, 6:07 pm

Mixed / neutral. No major red flags jump out, but nothing here screams "obviously cheap" either. This is a name that needs a peer comparison and a view on near-term earnings triggers before sizing a position.

Understanding the Business

Company site ↗

The 60-second version of Aptech Limited — what it does, how it earns, and who it competes with, before any of the numbers below.

What does this company do?

Aptech Limited operates as a learning solutions company in India and internationally. It operates in two segments, Retail and Institutional.

IndustryEducation & Training Services

SectorConsumer Defensive

Employees454

Annual revenue₹503 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹503 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹5 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹10 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 454 employees supports ₹1.11 Cr of revenue a year, the signature of a capital- or asset-led business.

EBITDA margin10.1%

Net margin4.7%

Revenue / employee₹1.11 Cr

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are HINDUSTAN UNILEVER LTD., ITC LTD, NESTLE INDIA LIMITED, BRITANNIA INDUSTRIES LTD. These are the companies its valuation and returns are measured against elsewhere in this report.

HINDUSTAN UNILEVER LTD.P/E 42.5x · ROE 21.5%

ITC LTDP/E 16.6x · ROE 27.4%

NESTLE INDIA LIMITEDP/E 59.8x · ROE 79.9%

BRITANNIA INDUSTRIES LTDP/E 44.1x · ROE 51.0%

What is its competitive advantage?Little sign of one

Returns on capital of 14.1% 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.

ROCE14.1%

ROE9.5%

Peer median ROE51.0%

What has been driving growth?

Profit has moved mainly because margins changed, not because the business sold much more. Over 3 years revenue moved +10% while net margin moved -68% 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+10%

Margin effect-68%

DalalBaazaar Score

46/ 100

Moderate

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✗ Revenue CAGR of only 3.3% — barely ahead of inflation
✗ Profit has declined at 29.7% a year
✗ Profit is compounding slower than revenue — margins are being squeezed as the business grows

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

40/ 100

Weak

How good the business is, ignoring the share price entirely.

Valuation

74/ 100

Cheap

What you are being asked to pay, ignoring how good the business is.

Optically cheap, but the underlying business scores poorly. Cheap-and-weak is what a value trap looks like from the outside — the low price may be deserved.

Historical Valuation

Current P/E

20.4x

3Y Median

26.4x

40 monthly readings · mean 27.6x · range 18.6x–46.2x

Sector Median

43.3x

median of 4 sector peers

🟢Current valuation is approximately 23% below its 3y median of 26.4x. Cheaper than its own history, which is worth a reason too: the market may be pricing in something the backward-looking numbers do not show.

🟢Against its sector it trades 53% below the peer median of 43.3x.

vs. its own history

Cheap

26.4x median over 40 months · -23%

vs. sector peers

Cheap

43.3x median of 4 peers · -53%

vs. generic bands

Fair

15x–35x

P/E (Trailing)

20.4x

P/B

1.99x

EV/EBITDA

9.5x

PEG

1.48

Dividend Yield

5.23%

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well2

Valuation below its historical average
At 20.4x the stock trades 23% below its own median of 26.4x.
Consistently profitable
Profitable in every one of the last 4 reported years.

🔴 What Needs Attention4

Margins are compressing
EBITDA margin has slipped from 17.4% to 10.1% over 3 years.
Debt is rising
Total debt is up 82% over 3 years — worth checking what it funded.
Return on equity is falling
ROE has dropped from 26.4% to 9.5% — each rupee of shareholder capital earns less than it did.
Return on capital is falling
ROCE has declined from 31.1% to 14.1% — often a sign of competition or overexpansion.

Red Flags

4 items require attention · 3 high · 1 watch

🔴Debt has risen sharplyFinancial
Total debt is up 82% over 3 years, from ₹7 Cr to ₹13 Cr.
🔴High leverageFinancial
Debt/Equity of 5.06x — earnings must service borrowings before shareholders see anything.
🔴Significant margin compressionFinancial
EBITDA margin has fallen 7.3 points, from 17.4% to 10.1%.
🟡Profit is decliningFinancial
Net profit is down 65% over 3 years.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Priced below its own history
The stock trades 23% below its own median multiple. If the business performs as it has and simply re-rates back to normal, that gap is return on its own.
Cheaper than its peers
It trades 53% below the sector median. Either the market sees a problem the numbers do not show, or the discount closes.
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 17.4% to 10.1%. If the trend continues, profit falls even on flat sales — and margin decline rarely reverses quickly.
Leverage amplifies any setback
Debt/Equity of 5.06x. Interest is payable whether or not the business has a good year.
Growth barely outpaces inflation
Revenue compounding at 3.3% 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 26.4% to 9.5%. 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 8%✓ 10.1%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
2Revenue growth stays above 4% a year✗ 3.3% CAGR
Latest reported year was 11.1%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.
3Free cash flow remains positive✓ ₹21 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
4Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x✓ 0.2x
The ratio lenders write covenants against; it survives a small or negative equity base, unlike Debt/Equity.
5ROCE stays above 11%✓ 14.1%
Falling returns on capital are usually competition arriving, and show up here before they reach the margin.

Investment Checklist

6 / 11 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
✗ Short-term technical trend isn't bearish

Price history

Quick Metrics

5 good · 5 neutral · 1 weak

Market Cap

₹499 Cr

Micro Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

20.4x

Fair

Fairly valued against the generic band

P/B Ratio

1.99x

Fair

Moderate premium to the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹4.22

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

9.5%

Moderate

Moderate capital efficiency

ROCE

14.1%

Moderate

Moderate return on the capital in the business

Debt/Equity

5.06x

High

High leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

11.1%

Healthy

Healthy top-line growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

13.8%

Healthy

Profits growing at a healthy clip

Dividend Yield

5.23%

Healthy

Meaningful cash return while you hold the stock

Free Cash Flow

₹21 Cr

Cash generative

Generates cash even after funding its capex

More Metrics

CMP

₹86

P/E (Forward)

15.8x

Improving

Below the trailing multiple — the street expects earnings to grow into the price

Operating Margin

5.1%

Average

Average margins

Net Margin

4.7%

Average

Average bottom-line conversion

Current Ratio

1.69

Comfortable

Healthy short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

0.49

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

28%

Mid-range

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

88.7 / 90.4

Bearish alignment (short < long)

Price vs SMA 200

Below

Long-term downtrend

RSI (14)

29.7

Oversold zone

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹457 Cr	₹437 Cr	₹460 Cr	₹503 Cr	+3.3%
EBITDA	₹80 Cr	₹58 Cr	₹47 Cr	₹51 Cr	-13.9%
EBITDA Margin	17.4%	13.3%	10.2%	10.1%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹68 Cr	₹29 Cr	₹19 Cr	₹24 Cr	-29.7%
EPS	₹11.67	₹5.01	₹3.29	₹4.06	-29.7%
ROE	26.4%	11.2%	7.6%	9.5%	—
ROCE	31.1%	15.5%	13.7%	14.1%	—
Total Debt	₹7 Cr	₹8 Cr	₹7 Cr	₹13 Cr	+22.0%
Free Cash Flow	₹92 Cr	-₹22 Cr	₹13 Cr	₹21 Cr	-38.8%

🟢 Revenue has grown at 3.3% a year over 3 years.

🔴 EBITDA has shrunk at 13.9% a year over 3 years.

🔴 EBITDA Margin has fallen from 17.4% to 10.1% over 3 years (-7.3 pts).

🔴 PAT (Net Profit) has shrunk at 29.7% a year over 3 years.

🔴 EPS has shrunk at 29.7% a year over 3 years.

🔴 ROE has fallen from 26.4% to 9.5% over 3 years (-16.9 pts).

🔴 ROCE has fallen from 31.1% to 14.1% over 3 years (-17.0 pts).

🔴 Total Debt has grown at 22.0% a year over 3 years.

🔴 Free Cash Flow has shrunk at 38.8% a year over 3 years.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹428 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹179 Cr

Total Debt

₹13 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹27 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

₹24 Cr

Capex

-₹3 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

0.1%

Insider Holding

50.8%

Corporate Actions

Dividend Rate

₹4.5

Ex-Dividend Date

27 May 2026

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
HINDUSTAN UNILEVER LTD.	42.5x	21.5%
ITC LTD	16.6x	27.4%
NESTLE INDIA LIMITED	59.8x	79.9%
BRITANNIA INDUSTRIES LTD	44.1x	51.0%

Recent News

2 positive3 mixed1 general

Aptech Share Price Forecast: 3 Year Outlook to 2030

Univest, 15 Jul

Aptech - Madhusudan Kela’s portfolio: 5 stocks rally up to 135%; 4 new Q4 bets revealed

The Economic Times, 02 MayResults

🟡Mixed / dependsA results event. The figures on this page update once the new statements reach the data feed, which usually lags the announcement.

Aptech's (NSE:APTECHT) earnings trajectory could turn positive as the stock soars 12% this past week

Simply Wall Street, 10 FebResults

🟡Mixed / dependsA results event. The figures on this page update once the new statements reach the data feed, which usually lags the announcement.

Dividend powerhouse: Coal India, ITC, REC, NMDC, Aptech, Radiant Cash - Which stock is real dividend multiplier? Details

Livemint, 08 OctCapital return

🟢Potentially positiveCash or shares returned to holders. A buyback is only good value if the shares were cheap when bought.

Dividend powerhouse: Coal India, ITC, REC, NMDC, Aptech, Radiant Cash - Which stock is real dividend multiplier? Details

TradingView, 08 OctCapital return

🟢Potentially positiveCash or shares returned to holders. A buyback is only good value if the shares were cheap when bought.

Aptech Q4 PAT falls 64% YoY to Rs 2 cr

Business Standard, 20 MayResults

🟡Mixed / dependsA results event. The figures on this page update once the new statements reach the data feed, which usually lags the announcement.

Watch Items

Cross-check against the company's latest quarterly filing / investor presentation before acting.
RSI is in oversold territory — could mean either a bargain or a stock still falling for good reason. Check the 'why' before assuming reversal.

DalalBaazaar Thesis

🔴Business QualityWeak7.5/20

🟡Financial HealthAdequate12.5/20

🔴GrowthWeak5.7/20

🔴ProfitabilityWeak4.6/15

🟢ValuationAttractive11/15

🔴RiskHigh4.3/10

Cheap, but for a reason

The low price is the whole case here, and the business underneath scores poorly. Cheap-and-weak is what a value trap looks like from the outside — it needs a specific reason the numbers are about to improve, not just the observation that they are low. 3 high-severity red flags sit above this conclusion and should be read first.

This thesis breaks if

✓EBITDA margin holds above 8%10.1%
✗Revenue growth stays above 4% a year3.3% CAGR
✓Free cash flow remains positive₹21 Cr
✓Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x0.2x
✓ROCE stays above 11%14.1%