Delton Cables Limited

Industrials — Electrical Equipment & Parts · BSE

₹726.00+₹14.10 (+1.98%)

DalalBaazaar Score

55 / 100

🟡 Moderate

Verdict

NEUTRAL

Risk

Moderate

Driven by negative free cash flow, micro-cap size, which brings thin liquidity.

In simple words: The business is earning a fairly low return on the money invested in it, with both sales and profits growing well. Cash generation is currently the main factor to watch.

Decision support, not a buy or sell call.

As of 18 Oct 2026, 7:02 pm

Understanding the Business

Company site ↗

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

What does this company do?

Delton Cables Limited manufactures and supplies wires, cables, and switchgears in India and internationally.

IndustryElectrical Equipment & Parts

SectorIndustrials

Employees345

Annual revenue₹958 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹958 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹2 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹6 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 345 employees supports ₹2.78 Cr of revenue a year, the signature of a capital- or asset-led business.

Revenue / employee₹2.78 Cr

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are SIEMENS LTD, ABB INDIA LIMITED, HAVELLS INDIA 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?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.

Peer median ROE17.1%

What has been driving growth?

Profit has moved mainly because margins changed, not because the business sold much more. Over 3 years revenue moved +257% while net margin moved +614% 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+257%

Margin effect+614%

DalalBaazaar Score

55/ 100

Moderate

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

• ROCE of 14.1% is adequate but not distinctive
✗ ROCE has fallen by 9.8 points — returns are eroding
✗ EBITDA margin of 6.4% is thin — little cushion if costs rise
✗ Net margin of 1.7% is slim
• Revenue has compounded at 52.8% a year, which is the base these returns are earned on

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

55/ 100

Average

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

Valuation

77/ 100

Cheap

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

A reasonable business at a reasonable price — neither the quality nor the valuation stands out in either direction.

Historical Valuation

Current P/E

32.6x

3Y Median

42.2x

40 monthly readings · mean 172.8x · range 14.3x–772.2x

Sector Median

88.8x

median of 3 sector peers

🟢Current valuation is approximately 23% below its 3y median of 42.2x. 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 63% below the peer median of 88.8x.

vs. its own history

Cheap

42.2x median over 40 months · -23%

vs. sector peers

Cheap

88.8x median of 3 peers · -63%

vs. generic bands

Fair

15x–35x

EV/EBITDA

13.2x

PEG

0.17

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well2

Return on equity is rising
ROE has improved from 1.0% to 4.3%.
Consistently profitable
Profitable in every one of the last 4 reported years.

🔴 What Needs Attention1

Return on capital is falling
ROCE has declined from 23.9% to 14.1% — often a sign of competition or overexpansion.

Red Flags

5 items require attention · 4 high · 1 watch

🔴Debt has risen sharplyFinancial
Total debt is up 144% over 3 years, from ₹75 Cr to ₹184 Cr.
🔴Thin interest coverageFinancial
Operating profit covers interest only 1.6x — little room if earnings dip.
🔴Free cash flow negative for 3 yearsFinancial
The business has not covered its capital spending from operations for several years running, which has to be funded externally.
🔴Receivables growing faster than salesFinancial
Receivables up 360% against revenue up 257% — sales are being booked faster than they are collected.
🟡Interest coverage is deterioratingFinancial
Cover has fallen from 2.3x to 1.6x.

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 63% 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?

The debt load needs earnings to hold up
Debt is 3.0x EBITDA. At that level a downturn in earnings turns a manageable balance sheet into a refinancing problem, and lenders get paid before shareholders.
Sales are being booked faster than collected
Receivables are up 360% against revenue up 257%. 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
4 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

1Revenue growth stays above 40% a year✓ 52.8% CAGR
Latest reported year was 83.2%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.
2EBITDA margin holds above 4%✓ 6.4%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
3Debt / EBITDA falls below 3x✗ 3.0x
Already stretched, so this is a reduction target rather than a level to hold. Around 3x is where lenders typically start attaching conditions.
4Free cash flow remains positive✗ -₹26 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
5Interest cover stays above 3x✗ 1.6x
How much operating profit can fall before interest stops being comfortably covered.

Investment Checklist

7 / 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

4 good · 5 neutral · 2 weak

Market Cap

₹627 Cr

Micro Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

32.6x

Fair

Fairly valued against the generic band

P/B Ratio

1.83x

Fair

Moderate premium to the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹22.26

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

4.3%

Weak

Weak capital efficiency

ROCE

14.1%

Moderate

Moderate return on the capital in the business

Debt/Equity

0.54x

Low

Conservative leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

83.2%

Healthy

Healthy top-line growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

146.2%

Healthy

Profits growing at a healthy clip

Dividend Yield

0.28%

Modest

Small cash return — most of the return has to come from the price

Free Cash Flow

-₹26 Cr

Cash burning

Spending more cash than the operations bring in

More Metrics

Operating Margin

8.0%

Average

Average margins

Net Margin

1.7%

Weak

Very little revenue reaches the bottom line

Current Ratio

1.13

Adequate

Adequate, but no real cushion

Beta (vs Nifty)

0.46

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

88%

Near high

Near its 52-week high

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

695.6 / 631.0

Bullish alignment (short > long)

Price vs SMA 200

Above

Long-term uptrend

RSI (14)

53.7

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹268 Cr	₹401 Cr	₹695 Cr	₹958 Cr	+52.8%
EBITDA	₹18 Cr	₹31 Cr	₹44 Cr	₹61 Cr	+50.2%
EBITDA Margin	6.7%	7.8%	6.4%	6.4%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹1 Cr	₹15 Cr	₹21 Cr	₹15 Cr	+194.3%
EPS	₹0.67	₹16.96	₹23.74	₹17.04	+194.1%
ROE	1.0%	20.5%	22.7%	4.3%	—
ROCE	23.9%	43.3%	43.2%	14.1%	—
Total Debt	₹75 Cr	₹113 Cr	₹184 Cr	₹184 Cr	+34.7%
Free Cash Flow	₹1 Cr	-₹36 Cr	-₹37 Cr	-₹26 Cr	—

🟢 Revenue has grown at 52.8% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA has grown at 50.2% a year over 3 years.

🟡 EBITDA Margin has held roughly flat at 6.4% over 3 years.

🟢 PAT (Net Profit) has grown at 194.3% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EPS has grown at 194.1% a year over 3 years.

🟢 ROE has risen from 1.0% to 4.3% over 3 years (+3.3 pts).

🔴 ROCE has fallen from 23.9% to 14.1% over 3 years (-9.8 pts).

🔴 Total Debt has grown at 34.7% a year over 3 years.

🔴 Free Cash Flow has turned negative, from ₹1 Cr to -₹26 Cr.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹862 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹519 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹0 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

-₹6 Cr

Capex

-₹20 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

5.8%

Insider Holding

76.5%

Corporate Actions

Dividend Rate

₹2

Ex-Dividend Date

22 Sept 2026

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
SIEMENS LTD	88.8x	10.5%
ABB INDIA LIMITED	92.6x	19.1%
HAVELLS INDIA LIMITED	43.5x	17.1%

Recent News

3 positive1 mixed2 general

Delton Cables Ltd. Share Price Fall With Sector Analysis

Univest, 20 AugPrice move

🟡Mixed / dependsA price move rather than a change in the business. If the figures on this page have not moved, the fall is either an opportunity or news they have yet to catch up with.

Delton Cables net profit surges 146% in Q1FY26 on revenue growth

scanx.trade, 11 AugResults

🟢Potentially positiveReported improvement. Check whether it came from volume, price or a one-off item before treating it as a trend.

Delton Cables standalone net profit rises 146.43% in the June 2026 quarter

Business Standard, 12 AugResults

🟢Potentially positiveReported improvement. Check whether it came from volume, price or a one-off item before treating it as a trend.

Delton Cables Ltd. Shareholding Pattern – Promoters, FIIs & DIIs

Value Research, 03 Sept

Delton Cables Ltd. Upper Circuit Today: Price, Data and Peers

Univest, 28 Sept

Delton Cables corrects Q1FY27 order book to ₹4,182 Mn

scanx.trade, 11 AugOrder 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.

Watch Items

Cross-check against the company's latest quarterly filing / investor presentation before acting.

DalalBaazaar Thesis

StrongGrowth

MiddlingProfitability · Valuation

WeakBusiness Quality · Financial Health · Risk

Points for each in the Score ↑

Unremarkable in both directions

A reasonable business at a reasonable price. Nothing here is alarming and nothing is compelling, which usually means the decision rests on things this data cannot see — the industry's direction, management's intent, and what else is available to you. 4 high-severity red flags sit above this conclusion and should be read first.

3 of 5 tripwires tripped — Debt / EBITDA falls below 3x; Free cash flow remains positive; Interest cover stays above 3x · see Key things to watch ↑