D. B. Corp Limited

Communication Services — Publishing · NSE

₹165.10−₹1.47 (−0.88%)

DalalBaazaar Score

69 / 100

🟢 Good

Verdict

NEUTRAL

Risk

High

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

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

Decision support, not a buy or sell call.

As of 18 Oct 2026, 7:47 pm

Understanding the Business

Company site ↗

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

What does this company do?

D. B. Corp Limited, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the business of publishing newspapers, radio broadcasting, and digital platforms for news, and event management in India and internationally.

IndustryPublishing

SectorCommunication Services

Employees3,978

Annual revenue₹2,290 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹2,290 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹14 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹25 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 3,978 employees supports ₹57.6 lakh of revenue a year, the signature of a people-led business.

Revenue / employee₹57.6 lakh

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are BHARTI AIRTEL LIMITED, VODAFONE IDEA LIMITED. 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?Some evidence

ROCE of 17.1% is above what capital typically costs, which suggests some pricing power, though not yet the sustained, wide gap that marks a durable advantage.

Peer median ROE20.2%

What is the outlook?

1 analysts covering the stock expect revenue to grow about 8.1% and earnings to grow about 14.3% in the year to 2028. These are estimates by people who follow the company, not a forecast for the wider industry.

Est. revenue growth+8.1%

Est. earnings growth+14.3%

Analysts1

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 +78% 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+78%

DalalBaazaar Score

69/ 100

Good

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✓ Beta of 0.22 — historically steadier than the index
✗ Micro Cap: thinner liquidity and sharper drawdowns are normal
✗ High leverage magnifies any downturn in earnings

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

69/ 100

Good

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

Valuation

87/ 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

9.0x

3Y Median

12.7x

40 monthly readings · mean 16.9x · range 8.5x–37.1x

Sector Median

21.7x

median of 2 sector peers

🟢Current valuation is approximately 29% below its 3y median of 12.7x. 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 59% below the peer median of 21.7x.

vs. its own history

Cheap

12.7x median over 40 months · -29%

vs. sector peers

Cheap

21.7x median of 2 peers · -59%

vs. generic bands

Cheap

Below 15x

EV/EBITDA

5.4x

PEG

0.36

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well4

Margins are improving
EBITDA margin is up from 17.4% to 25.0% over 3 years.
Return on equity is rising
ROE has improved from 8.7% to 13.7%.
Return on capital is rising
ROCE has improved from 11.3% to 17.1%.
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

1 item require attention · 1 high

🔴High leverageFinancial
Debt/Equity of 8.97x — earnings must service borrowings before shareholders see anything.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Margin expansion has further to run
EBITDA margin has risen from 17.4% to 25.0%. If that holds, profit compounds faster than sales and today's multiple looks cheaper in hindsight than it does now.
Priced below its own history
The stock trades 29% 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 59% 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?

Leverage amplifies any setback
Debt/Equity of 8.97x. 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.
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 23%✓ 25.0%
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 -5.5%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.
3Free cash flow remains positive✓ ₹193 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
4Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x✓ 0.5x
The ratio lenders write covenants against; it survives a small or negative equity base, unlike Debt/Equity.
5ROCE stays above 14%✓ 17.1%
Falling returns on capital are usually competition arriving, and show up here before they reach the margin.

Investment Checklist

7 / 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

6 good · 2 neutral · 3 weak

Market Cap

₹2,943 Cr

Micro Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

9.0x

Cheap

Cheap against the generic band

P/B Ratio

1.17x

Reasonable

Reasonable against the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹18.35

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

13.6%

Moderate

Moderate capital efficiency

ROCE

17.1%

Strong

Earns comfortably above its likely cost of capital

Debt/Equity

8.97x

High

High leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

-5.5%

Shrinking

Sales are contracting

Profit Growth (YoY)

-26.5%

Falling

Profits are shrinking

Dividend Yield

4.24%

Healthy

Meaningful cash return while you hold the stock

Free Cash Flow

₹128 Cr

Cash generative

Generates cash even after funding its capex

More Metrics

P/E (Forward)

6.8x

Improving

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

ROA

7.5%

Average

Average asset productivity

Operating Margin

11.3%

Average

Average margins

Net Margin

13.8%

Good

Strong bottom-line conversion

Current Ratio

4.74

Comfortable

Healthy short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

0.22

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

Near low

Near its 52-week low

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

175.8 / 191.2

Bearish alignment (short < long)

Price vs SMA 200

Below

Long-term downtrend

RSI (14)

31.4

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹2,076 Cr	₹2,349 Cr	₹2,284 Cr	₹2,290 Cr	+3.3%
EBITDA	₹361 Cr	₹658 Cr	₹622 Cr	₹573 Cr	+16.6%
EBITDA Margin	17.4%	28.0%	27.3%	25.0%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹169 Cr	₹426 Cr	₹371 Cr	₹332 Cr	+25.2%
EPS	₹9.52	₹23.87	₹20.81	₹18.62	+25.1%
ROE	8.7%	19.2%	16.7%	13.7%	—
ROCE	11.3%	23.3%	20.6%	17.1%	—
Total Debt	₹213 Cr	₹253 Cr	₹283 Cr	₹262 Cr	+7.3%
Free Cash Flow	₹217 Cr	₹531 Cr	₹365 Cr	₹193 Cr	-3.9%

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

🟢 EBITDA has grown at 16.6% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA Margin has risen from 17.4% to 25.0% over 3 years (+7.6 pts).

🟢 PAT (Net Profit) has grown at 25.2% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EPS has grown at 25.1% a year over 3 years.

🟢 ROE has risen from 8.7% to 13.7% over 3 years (+5.0 pts).

🟢 ROCE has risen from 11.3% to 17.1% over 3 years (+5.8 pts).

🔴 Total Debt has grown at 7.3% a year over 3 years.

🔴 Free Cash Flow has shrunk at 3.9% a year over 3 years.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹3,197 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹768 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹106 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

₹365 Cr

Capex

-₹172 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

13.4%

Insider Holding

74.5%

Corporate Actions

Dividend Rate

₹7

Ex-Dividend Date

23 Jul 2026

Analyst Consensus

Recommendations

1 Buy · 0 Hold · 0 Sell

Target Price (Mean)

₹290

+75.7% vs CMP

Target Range

₹290 – ₹290

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
BHARTI AIRTEL LIMITED	39.8x	20.2%
VODAFONE IDEA LIMITED	3.6x	—

Recent News

2 positive2 mixed1 negative1 general

DB Corp Q2 Profit Falls 27% on Lower Ad Revenue

HDFC Sky, 16 OctResults

🔴Potentially negativeReported deterioration, which feeds the growth and margin inputs on this page directly.

D.B.Corp (DBCORP.NS) Results at a Glance: The Company Reports Its Latest Available Figures at the Close

siam.in, 21 AugResults

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

DB Corp Shares Zoom Over 7% On Healthy Q1 Results; Declares Dividend — Key Numbers Inside

NDTV Profit, 16 JulCapital return

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

DB Corp Q1 Results: Strong ad revenue growth aids profit, margin expansion; Stock jumps up to 7%

CNBC TV18, 16 JulCapacity

🟡Mixed / dependsCapacity additions can raise revenue over two to three years, but the capital spend usually pressures free cash flow first. Worth checking whether the capex is funded from operations or from borrowing.

D. B. Corp Limited Declares Interim Dividend for the Financial Year 2026-27, Payable on or Before August 14, 2026

www.marketscreener.com, 16 JulCapital return

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

D B Corp Ltd soars 1.19%

Business Standard, 08 Jul

Watch Items

Revenue growth is negative (-5.5%) 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. 1 high-severity red flag sits above this conclusion and should be read first.

1 of 5 tripwires tripped — Revenue growth stays above 4% a year · see Key things to watch ↑