Ashoka Buildcon Limited

Industrials — Engineering & Construction · NSE

₹105.05+₹0.03 (+0.03%)

DalalBaazaar Score

75 / 100

🟢 Good

Verdict

REASONABLE

Risk

Low

Driven by micro-cap size, which brings thin liquidity, falling profits.

In simple words: Strong business and financial position, but sales are shrinking. The direction of profits is the main factor to watch.

Decision support, not a buy or sell call.

As of 18 Oct 2026, 7:46 pm

Understanding the Business

Company site ↗

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

What does this company do?

Ashoka Buildcon Limited engages in the construction business in India. It operates through Construction & Contract Related Activity; Built, Operate and Transfer (BOT)/ Annuity Projects; and Sale of Goods segments.

IndustryEngineering & Construction

SectorIndustrials

Employees1,310

Annual revenue₹6,953 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹6,953 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹37 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹29 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 1,310 employees supports ₹5.31 Cr of revenue a year, the signature of a capital- or asset-led business.

Revenue / employee₹5.31 Cr

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are LARSEN & TOUBRO LTD., ADANI PORT & SEZ LTD, SIEMENS LTD. These are the companies its valuation and returns are measured against elsewhere in this report.

Compared side by side in Peers ↓

What is its competitive advantage?The numbers suggest a real one

ROCE has stayed above 15% in every year available and stands at 47.1%. Returns that high normally get competed away; when they persist, something is protecting them, and its ROE of 38.8% against a peer median of 14.1% is consistent with that. What that something is — brand, scale, switching costs, regulation — the accounts cannot tell you.

Peer median ROE14.1%

What is the outlook?

4 analysts covering the stock expect revenue to grow about 11.1% and earnings to grow about 50.8% in the year to 2028. These are estimates by people who follow the company, not a forecast for the wider industry.

Est. revenue growth+11.1%

Est. earnings growth+50.8%

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 -5% while net margin moved +822% 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-5%

Margin effect+822%

DalalBaazaar Score

75/ 100

Good

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✓ Beta of 0.52 — historically steadier than the index
✗ Micro Cap: thinner liquidity and sharper drawdowns are normal
✗ Profits have swung sharply from year to year — earnings are hard to forecast

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

77/ 100

Good

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

Valuation

88/ 100

Cheap

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

A good business currently available at an undemanding price — the combination this framework is built to look for.

Historical Valuation

Current P/E

1.2x

3Y Median

11.2x

40 monthly readings · mean 9.4x · range 1.2x–24.5x

Sector Median

30.1x

median of 3 sector peers

🟢Current valuation is approximately 89% below its 3y median of 11.2x. 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 96% below the peer median of 30.1x.

vs. its own history

Cheap

11.2x median over 40 months · -89%

vs. sector peers

Cheap

30.1x median of 3 peers · -96%

vs. generic bands

Cheap

Below 15x

EV/EBITDA

2.1x

PEG

0.01

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well7

Debt is being paid down
Total debt is down 67% over 3 years.
Cash generation is improving
Free cash flow is up 71% over 3 years.
Return on equity is rising
ROE has improved from 17.5% to 38.8%.
Return on capital is rising
ROCE has improved from 17.6% to 47.1%.
High return on capital employed
ROCE of 47.1% is the mark of a business that converts capital into profit efficiently.
Very low debt
Debt/Equity of 0.24x leaves the balance sheet with plenty of headroom.
Consistently profitable
Profitable in every one of the last 4 reported years.

🔴 What Needs Attention0

Nothing stands out as clearly deteriorating on the years of data available.

Red Flags

2 items require attention · 2 high

🔴Profit up while operating cash flow fallsFinancial
Reported profit rose but cash generated by operations declined — worth checking whether earnings are being supported by non-cash items or working capital.
🔴Receivables growing faster than salesFinancial
Receivables up 75% against revenue up -5% — sales are being booked faster than they are collected.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Capital compounds at a high rate
ROCE of 47.1% means each rupee reinvested earns well above what capital costs. If the company can keep deploying at this rate, growth creates value rather than just consuming cash.
Deleveraging frees up earnings
Debt is down 67% over 3 years. Every rupee of interest not paid drops to the bottom line, so profit can grow even if revenue does not.
Priced below its own history
The stock trades 89% 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 96% below the sector median. Either the market sees a problem the numbers do not show, or the discount closes.
Self-funding with balance-sheet headroom
Positive free cash flow of ₹537 Cr alongside low debt means growth, buybacks or dividends need no outside money — and a downturn can be absorbed rather than refinanced.

🔴 Bear CaseWhat could go wrong?

Sales are being booked faster than collected
Receivables are up 75% against revenue up -5%. If customers keep taking longer to pay, reported profit will not turn into cash — and write-offs follow if some never do.
Earnings are hard to forecast
Profit has swung sharply from year to year, so any single year — good or bad — is a weak guide to the next. Cyclical earnings deserve lower multiples for that reason.
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.
Several serious flags at once
2 high-severity checks triggered. Individually each has an explanation; together they raise the chance that something structural is wrong rather than a one-off.

🟡 Key Things to WatchMeasurable tripwires, set against where this company stands today

1EBITDA margin holds above 27%✓ 29.0%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
2Free cash flow remains positive✓ ₹537 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
3Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x✓ 0.9x
The ratio lenders write covenants against; it survives a small or negative equity base, unlike Debt/Equity.
4ROCE stays above 44%✓ 47.1%
Falling returns on capital are usually competition arriving, and show up here before they reach the margin.
5Interest cover stays above 4x✓ 4.6x
How much operating profit can fall before interest stops being comfortably covered.

Investment Checklist

9 / 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

7 good · 2 neutral · 2 weak

Market Cap

₹2,949 Cr

Micro Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

1.2x

Cheap

Cheap against the generic band

P/B Ratio

0.45x

Reasonable

Reasonable against the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹87.64

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

38.8%

Strong

Strong capital efficiency

ROCE

47.1%

Strong

Earns comfortably above its likely cost of capital

Debt/Equity

0.24x

Low

Conservative leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

-20.5%

Shrinking

Sales are contracting

Profit Growth (YoY)

-41.2%

Falling

Profits are shrinking

Dividend Yield

None

No dividend yield reported — usually means no payout, but verify if one was recently initiated

Free Cash Flow

₹537 Cr

Cash generative

Generates cash even after funding its capex

More Metrics

P/E (Forward)

7.5x

Flat

At or above the trailing multiple — no earnings uplift is being priced in

Operating Margin

14.8%

Average

Average margins

Net Margin

34.5%

Good

Strong bottom-line conversion

Current Ratio

2.23

Comfortable

Healthy short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

0.52

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

Near low

Near its 52-week low

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

107.9 / 111.8

Bearish alignment (short < long)

Price vs SMA 200

Below

Long-term downtrend

RSI (14)

30.2

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹7,354 Cr	₹8,957 Cr	₹8,974 Cr	₹6,953 Cr	-1.9%
EBITDA	₹2,054 Cr	₹2,228 Cr	₹3,038 Cr	₹2,015 Cr	-0.6%
EBITDA Margin	27.9%	24.9%	33.9%	29.0%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹292 Cr	₹503 Cr	₹1,694 Cr	₹2,550 Cr	+105.8%
EPS	₹10.42	₹17.92	₹60.35	₹90.84	+105.8%
ROE	17.5%	22.7%	43.3%	38.8%	—
ROCE	17.6%	20.2%	43.5%	47.1%	—
Total Debt	₹5,509 Cr	₹5,665 Cr	₹2,226 Cr	₹1,835 Cr	-30.7%
Free Cash Flow	₹313 Cr	₹603 Cr	₹1,555 Cr	₹537 Cr	+19.7%

🟡 Revenue has been broadly flat over 3 years (-1.9% a year).

🟡 EBITDA has been broadly flat over 3 years (-0.6% a year).

🟢 EBITDA Margin has risen from 27.9% to 29.0% over 3 years (+1.1 pts).

🟢 PAT (Net Profit) has grown at 105.8% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EPS has grown at 105.8% a year over 3 years.

🟢 ROE has risen from 17.5% to 38.8% over 3 years (+21.3 pts).

🟢 ROCE has risen from 17.6% to 47.1% over 3 years (+29.5 pts).

🟢 Total Debt has shrunk at 30.7% a year over 3 years.

🟢 Free Cash Flow has grown at 19.7% a year over 3 years.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹13,050 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹6,474 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹591 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

₹655 Cr

Capex

-₹117 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

17.4%

Insider Holding

54.5%

Corporate Actions

Ex-Dividend Date

27 Mar 2018

Analyst Consensus

Recommendations

5 Buy · 1 Hold · 1 Sell

Target Price (Mean)

₹152.33

+45.0% vs CMP

Target Range

₹111 – ₹180

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
LARSEN & TOUBRO LTD.	30.1x	15.2%
ADANI PORT & SEZ LTD	29.9x	14.1%
SIEMENS LTD	88.8x	10.5%

Recent News

1 positive4 mixed1 general

Ashoka Buildcon (NSEI:ASHOKA) Stock Forecast & Analyst Predictions

Simply Wall Street, 09 OctAnalyst view

🟡Mixed / dependsBroker commentary — an opinion about the price rather than new information about the business.

Compare ASHOKA BUILDCON with

Equitymaster, 15 Oct

Ashoka Buildcon Achieves COD For 45 Km NHAI Road; Shares Rise 4%

HDFC Sky, 12 OctPrice move

🟡Mixed / dependsA price move, which is not by itself a change in the business. Worth finding the cause before reading it as either good or bad.

Ashoka Buildcon shares rally 13% on bagging ₹602-crore order from RVNL

Business Standard, 31 AugPrice move

🟡Mixed / dependsA price move, which is not by itself a change in the business. Worth finding the cause before reading it as either good or bad.

Ashoka Buildcon bags order worth over ₹290 core from North Eastern Railway; stock down 39% YTD

Upstox, 09 OctOrder win

🟢Potentially positiveOrder wins add to future revenue, though the effect depends on the contract's size against annual sales and on when it is executed.

Ashoka Buildcon shares gains on LoI from REC Power

Moneycontrol.com, 14 AugPrice move

🟡Mixed / dependsA price move, which is not by itself a change in the business. Worth finding the cause before reading it as either good or bad.

Watch Items

Revenue growth is negative (-20.5%) on the latest reported period — check if this is one-off or a trend.
Trading very close to its 52-week low — worth checking whether this reflects a temporary setback or a structural problem.
Cross-check against the company's latest quarterly filing / investor presentation before acting.

DalalBaazaar Thesis

StrongBusiness Quality · Financial Health · Profitability · Valuation

MiddlingGrowth

WeakRisk

Points for each in the Score ↑

Attractive on both counts

A good business currently available at an undemanding price — the combination this framework exists to look for. The work left is qualitative: whether the advantage the numbers imply is one you can identify and expect to last. 2 high-severity red flags sit above this conclusion and should be read first.

All 5 tripwires holding · see Key things to watch ↑