Ganga Papers India Limited

Basic Materials — Paper & Paper Products · BSE

₹86.00₹0.00 (0.00%)

DalalBaazaar Score

34 / 100

🔴 Weak

Verdict

CAUTION

Risk

High

Driven by moderate debt load, 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, 6:10 pm

Caution warranted. Multiple fundamental metrics — flagged in red below — point to either valuation stretch, leverage risk, or weakening profitability. This doesn't mean avoid the stock outright, but it does mean the burden of proof is on the growth story to justify the current price.

Understanding the Business

Company site ↗

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

What does this company do?

Ganga Papers India Limited manufactures and sells paper products in India. It offers kraft paper, including fluting paper and test liner kraft; newsprint, printing and writing papers; and packaging paperboard products.

IndustryPaper & Paper Products

SectorBasic Materials

Employees164

Annual revenue₹275 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹275 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹1 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹3 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 164 employees supports ₹1.68 Cr of revenue a year, the signature of a capital- or asset-led business.

EBITDA margin2.7%

Net margin0.6%

Revenue / employee₹1.68 Cr

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are TATA STEEL LIMITED, JSW STEEL LIMITED, ULTRATECH CEMENT LIMITED, ASIAN PAINTS LIMITED. These are the companies its valuation and returns are measured against elsewhere in this report.

TATA STEEL LIMITEDP/E 19.8x · ROE 10.8%

JSW STEEL LIMITEDP/E 12.0x · ROE 24.7%

ULTRATECH CEMENT LIMITEDP/E 37.6x · ROE 11.1%

ASIAN PAINTS LIMITEDP/E 46.9x · ROE 22.3%

What is its competitive advantage?Little sign of one

Returns on capital of 13.3% 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.

ROCE13.3%

ROE5.0%

Peer median ROE22.3%

What has been driving growth?

Profit has moved mainly because margins changed, not because the business sold much more. Over 3 years revenue moved -6% while net margin moved -48% 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-6%

Margin effect-48%

DalalBaazaar Score

34/ 100

Weak

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✗ Revenue has contracted at 1.9% a year
✗ Profit has declined at 21.1% a year

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

29/ 100

Weak

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

Valuation

40/ 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.

Historical Valuation

Current P/E

50.3x

3Y Median

58.1x

40 monthly readings · mean 55.1x · range 24.5x–83.8x

Sector Median

28.7x

median of 4 sector peers

🟢Current valuation is approximately 13% below its 3y median of 58.1x. 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 75% above the peer median of 28.7x.

vs. its own history

Fair

58.1x median over 40 months · -13%

vs. sector peers

Expensive

28.7x median of 4 peers · +75%

vs. generic bands

Expensive

Above 35x

P/E (Trailing)

50.3x

P/B

2.65x

EV/EBITDA

17.8x

PEG

—

Dividend Yield

None

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well1

Consistently profitable
Profitable in every one of the last 4 reported years.

🔴 What Needs Attention3

Free cash flow is negative
The business is not currently covering its capital spending from operations.
Return on equity is falling
ROE has dropped from 11.8% to 5.0% — each rupee of shareholder capital earns less than it did.
Return on capital is falling
ROCE has declined from 21.4% to 13.3% — often a sign of competition or overexpansion.

Red Flags

4 items require attention · 2 high · 2 watch

🔴Thin interest coverageFinancial
Operating profit covers interest only 1.8x — little room if earnings dip.
🔴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.
🟡Free cash flow is negativeFinancial
Free cash flow was -₹10 Cr in the latest year.
🟡Profit is decliningFinancial
Net profit is down 51% over 3 years.

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?

The debt load needs earnings to hold up
Debt is 5.9x EBITDA. At that level a downturn in earnings turns a manageable balance sheet into a refinancing problem, and lenders get paid before shareholders.
A premium to the sector to defend
It trades 75% above the peer median. That premium needs a reason that persists, or it closes.
Returns on shareholder capital are falling
ROE has dropped from 11.8% to 5.0%. 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.
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 1%✓ 2.7%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
2Debt / EBITDA falls below 3x✗ 5.9x
Already stretched, so this is a reduction target rather than a level to hold. Around 3x is where lenders typically start attaching conditions.
3Free cash flow remains positive✗ -₹10 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
4Interest cover stays above 3x✗ 1.8x
How much operating profit can fall before interest stops being comfortably covered.
5ROCE stays above 10%✓ 13.3%
Falling returns on capital are usually competition arriving, and show up here before they reach the margin.

Investment Checklist

4 / 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

3 good · 5 neutral · 3 weak

Market Cap

₹93 Cr

Micro Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

50.3x

Expensive

Expensive — verify against sector peers

P/B Ratio

2.65x

Fair

Moderate premium to the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹1.71

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

5.0%

Weak

Weak capital efficiency

ROCE

13.3%

Moderate

Moderate return on the capital in the business

Debt/Equity

1.37x

Moderate

Moderate leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

37.9%

Healthy

Healthy top-line growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

58.6%

Healthy

Profits growing at a healthy clip

Dividend Yield

None

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

Free Cash Flow

-₹10 Cr

Cash burning

Spending more cash than the operations bring in

More Metrics

CMP

₹86

Operating Margin

1.4%

Weak

Thin margins leave little room for error

Net Margin

0.6%

Weak

Very little revenue reaches the bottom line

Current Ratio

1.25

Comfortable

Healthy short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

-0.42

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

56%

Mid-range

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

86.2 / 91.3

Bearish alignment (short < long)

Price vs SMA 200

Above

Long-term uptrend

RSI (14)

34.3

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹291 Cr	₹241 Cr	₹253 Cr	₹275 Cr	-1.9%
EBITDA	₹9 Cr	₹7 Cr	₹6 Cr	₹7 Cr	-6.0%
EBITDA Margin	3.1%	2.8%	2.5%	2.7%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹3 Cr	₹1 Cr	₹2 Cr	₹2 Cr	-21.1%
EPS	₹3.02	₹1.37	₹1.44	₹1.48	-21.2%
ROE	11.8%	5.1%	5.1%	5.0%	—
ROCE	21.4%	14.4%	12.3%	13.3%	—
Total Debt	₹43 Cr	₹37 Cr	₹35 Cr	₹44 Cr	+0.5%
Free Cash Flow	-₹8 Cr	₹9 Cr	₹3 Cr	-₹10 Cr	—

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

🔴 EBITDA has shrunk at 6.0% a year over 3 years.

🟡 EBITDA Margin has held roughly flat at 2.7% over 3 years.

🔴 PAT (Net Profit) has shrunk at 21.1% a year over 3 years.

🔴 EPS has shrunk at 21.2% a year over 3 years.

🔴 ROE has fallen from 11.8% to 5.0% over 3 years (-6.8 pts).

🔴 ROCE has fallen from 21.4% to 13.3% over 3 years (-8.1 pts).

🟡 Total Debt has been broadly flat over 3 years (0.5% a year).

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹100 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹68 Cr

Total Debt

₹44 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹4 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

-₹2 Cr

Capex

-₹8 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

0.0%

Insider Holding

95.8%

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
TATA STEEL LIMITED	19.8x	10.8%
JSW STEEL LIMITED	12.0x	24.7%
ULTRATECH CEMENT LIMITED	37.6x	11.1%
ASIAN PAINTS LIMITED	46.9x	22.3%

Recent News

1 positive5 general

Ganga Papers appoints Yash Mishra as company secretary

scanx.trade, 03 Oct

Baanganga Gold & Diamond Files Draft Papers for Rs 720-crore IPO

HDFC Sky, 28 Sept

Ganga Papers shareholders approve director continuation beyond age 75

scanx.trade, 29 Sept

Baanganga Gold & Diamond files DRHP for Rs 720 crore IPO, fresh issue pegged at Rs 540 crore

The Economic Times, 26 Sept

Ambika Cotton Mills standalone net profit rises 61.43% in the June 2026 quarter

Business Standard, 08 AugResults

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

Aaradhya Disposal Industries Ltd. Price Rise: 9.58% Gain

Univest, 28 Jul

Watch Items

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

DalalBaazaar Thesis

🔴Business QualityWeak7.5/20

🔴Financial HealthStretched7/20

🔴GrowthWeak2.4/20

🔴ProfitabilityWeak4.6/15

🟡ValuationFair6.9/15

🟡RiskModerate5.4/10

Weak on the fundamentals

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. 2 high-severity red flags sit above this conclusion and should be read first.

This thesis breaks if

✓EBITDA margin holds above 1%2.7%
✗Debt / EBITDA falls below 3x5.9x
✗Free cash flow remains positive-₹10 Cr
✗Interest cover stays above 3x1.8x
✓ROCE stays above 10%13.3%