Hathway Cable and Datacom Limited

Communication Services — Entertainment · NSE

₹10.00−₹0.07 (−0.70%)

DalalBaazaar Score

52 / 100

🟡 Moderate

Verdict

CAUTION

Risk

Moderate

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

In simple words: The business is earning a fairly low return on the money invested in it, though profits are falling even as sales grow. Cash generation is currently the main factor to watch.

Decision support, not a buy or sell call.

As of 18 Oct 2026, 7:00 pm

Understanding the Business

Company site ↗

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

What does this company do?

Hathway Cable and Datacom Limited provides cable television network and Internet services. It operates through Broadband Business, Cable Television, and Dealing in Securities segments. The company provides home and business broadband services.

IndustryEntertainment

SectorCommunication Services

Employees439

Annual revenue₹2,091 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹2,091 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹4 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹17 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 439 employees supports ₹4.76 Cr of revenue a year, the signature of a capital- or asset-led business.

Revenue / employee₹4.76 Cr

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?Little sign of one

Returns on capital of 2.5% 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 ROE20.2%

What has been driving growth?

Sales and margins have both contributed to where profit is now. Over 3 years revenue moved +13% while net margin moved +12% 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+13%

Margin effect+12%

DalalBaazaar Score

52/ 100

Moderate

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✗ ROE of 1.5% is weak

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

49/ 100

Average

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

Valuation

52/ 100

Fair

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

26.3x

3Y Median

28.1x

40 monthly readings · mean 34.7x · range 17.1x–65.1x

Sector Median

21.7x

median of 2 sector peers

🟡Currently trading close to its 3y median of 28.1x — the market is paying about what it usually pays for this company.

⚠️Against its sector it trades 21% above the peer median of 21.7x.

vs. its own history

Fair

28.1x median over 40 months · -6%

vs. sector peers

Expensive

21.7x median of 2 peers · +21%

vs. generic bands

Fair

15x–35x

EV/EBITDA

4.8x

PEG

3.28

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well2

Very low debt
Debt/Equity of 0.20x 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

3 items require attention · 2 high · 1 watch

🔴Debt has risen sharplyFinancial
Total debt is up 86% over 3 years, from ₹5 Cr to ₹9 Cr.
🔴Significant margin compressionFinancial
EBITDA margin has fallen 6.7 points, from 23.9% to 17.2%.
🟡Receivables growing faster than salesFinancial
Receivables up 58% against revenue up 13% — sales are being booked faster than they are collected.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Self-funding with balance-sheet headroom
Positive free cash flow of ₹23 Cr alongside low debt means growth, buybacks or dividends need no outside money — and a downturn can be absorbed rather than refinanced.
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 23.9% to 17.2%. If the trend continues, profit falls even on flat sales — and margin decline rarely reverses quickly.
Sales are being booked faster than collected
Receivables are up 58% against revenue up 13%. If customers keep taking longer to pay, reported profit will not turn into cash — and write-offs follow if some never do.
A premium to the sector to defend
It trades 21% above the peer median. That premium needs a reason that persists, or it closes.
Growth barely outpaces inflation
Revenue compounding at 4.0% 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 15%✓ 17.2%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
2Revenue growth stays above 4% a year✓ 4.0% CAGR
Latest reported year was 5.7%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.
3Free cash flow remains positive✓ ₹23 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
4Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x✓ 0.0x
The ratio lenders write covenants against; it survives a small or negative equity base, unlike Debt/Equity.
5ROCE stays above 8%✗ 2.5%
Falling returns on capital are usually competition arriving, and show up here before they reach the margin.

Investment Checklist

5 / 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 · 4 neutral · 4 weak

Market Cap

₹1,770 Cr

Micro Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

26.3x

Fair

Fairly valued against the generic band

P/B Ratio

0.38x

Reasonable

Reasonable against the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹0.38

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

1.5%

Weak

Weak capital efficiency

ROCE

2.5%

Weak

Low return on total capital employed

Debt/Equity

0.20x

Low

Conservative leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

5.7%

Modest

Modest growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

-42.2%

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

-₹468 Cr

Cash burning

Spending more cash than the operations bring in

More Metrics

P/E (Forward)

22.2x

Improving

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

ROA

0.7%

Weak

Assets generate little profit

Operating Margin

-2.7%

Weak

Thin margins leave little room for error

Net Margin

3.1%

Average

Average bottom-line conversion

Current Ratio

3.11

Comfortable

Healthy short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

0.51

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

24%

Mid-range

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

9.9 / 10.2

Bearish alignment (short < long)

Price vs SMA 200

Below

Long-term downtrend

RSI (14)

50.2

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹1,857 Cr	₹1,971 Cr	₹1,973 Cr	₹2,091 Cr	+4.0%
EBITDA	₹443 Cr	₹434 Cr	₹392 Cr	₹359 Cr	-6.8%
EBITDA Margin	23.9%	22.0%	19.9%	17.2%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹65 Cr	₹99 Cr	₹93 Cr	₹82 Cr	+8.0%
EPS	₹0.37	₹0.56	₹0.52	₹0.46	+7.5%
ROE	1.6%	2.3%	2.1%	1.8%	—
ROCE	2.2%	3.3%	2.9%	2.5%	—
Total Debt	₹5 Cr	₹20 Cr	₹13 Cr	₹9 Cr	+23.1%
Free Cash Flow	₹61 Cr	-₹625 Cr	₹92 Cr	₹23 Cr	-28.1%

🟢 Revenue has grown at 4.0% a year over 3 years.

🔴 EBITDA has shrunk at 6.8% a year over 3 years.

🔴 EBITDA Margin has fallen from 23.9% to 17.2% over 3 years (-6.7 pts).

🟢 PAT (Net Profit) has grown at 8.0% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EPS has grown at 7.5% a year over 3 years.

🟡 ROE has held roughly flat at 1.8% over 3 years.

🟡 ROCE has held roughly flat at 2.5% over 3 years.

🔴 Total Debt has grown at 23.1% a year over 3 years.

🔴 Free Cash Flow has shrunk at 28.1% a year over 3 years.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹5,182 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹716 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹39 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

₹199 Cr

Capex

-₹176 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

0.3%

Insider Holding

75.0%

Peer Comparison

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

Recent News

1 positive2 mixed2 negative1 general

Hathway Share Price rises 8.65% to Rs 10.55

Univest, 13 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.

Hathway Q2 Profit Falls Over 44% to Rs 10.16 Cr; Revenue Rises 5.7%

HDFC Sky, 15 OctResults

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

Price Action: NIIT gains on CEO appointment; Hathway Cable slips after Q2 profit decline

Moneycontrol.com, 15 OctResults

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

Hathway Cable and Datacom Limited (NSE: HATHWAY) Reports Q2 Profit Decline as Content Costs Rise

Kalkine India, 15 OctResults

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

Hathway Cable & Datacom Ltd Opens 5.28% Higher in Sharp Gap Up, But Can the Technicals Support It?

MarketsMojo, 16 Oct

Hathway Cable Q2 Results: नफ्याला घरघर, कंपनीवर **₹3,200 कोटींच्या** कायदेशीर दाव्याचे सावट

Whalesbook, 14 OctResults

🟡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.

DalalBaazaar Thesis

StrongFinancial Health

MiddlingBusiness Quality · Growth · Valuation · Risk

WeakProfitability

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

1 of 5 tripwires tripped — ROCE stays above 8% · see Key things to watch ↑