Ironwood Education Limited

Consumer Defensive — Education & Training Services · BSE

₹50.00+₹0.50 (+1.01%)

DalalBaazaar Score

66 / 100

🟢 Good

Verdict

REASONABLE

Risk

High

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

In simple words: Reasonable but unspectacular business quality, 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, 8:28 pm

Understanding the Business

Company site ↗

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

What does this company do?

Ironwood Education Limited, together with its subsidiaries, provides vocational education services in India and internationally.

IndustryEducation & Training Services

SectorConsumer Defensive

Employees10

Annual revenue₹53 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹53 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹7 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹16 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 10 employees supports ₹5.26 Cr of revenue a year, the signature of a capital- or asset-led business.

Revenue / employee₹5.26 Cr

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are HINDUSTAN UNILEVER LTD., ITC LTD, NESTLE INDIA LIMITED, BRITANNIA INDUSTRIES 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?Little sign of one

Returns on capital of 11.4% 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 ROE51.0%

What has been driving growth?

Growth has come mainly from selling more, rather than from keeping more of each sale. Over 3 years revenue moved +2119% while net margin moved -109% 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+2119%

Margin effect-109%

DalalBaazaar Score

66/ 100

Good

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✓ Beta of 0.13 — 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
✗ Negative free cash flow means dependence on external funding

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

68/ 100

Good

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

Valuation

76/ 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

12.9x

Sector Median

43.3x

median of 4 sector peers

🟢Against its sector it trades 70% below the peer median of 43.3x.

vs. its own history

Not enough price and earnings history

vs. sector peers

Cheap

43.3x median of 4 peers · -70%

vs. generic bands

Cheap

Below 15x

EV/EBITDA

14.1x

PEG

—

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well3

Margins are improving
EBITDA margin is up from -32.9% to 16.3% over 3 years.
Return on equity is rising
ROE has improved from -15.9% to 12.5%.
Return on capital is rising
ROCE has improved from -5.5% to 11.4%.

🔴 What Needs Attention0

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

Red Flags

5 items require attention · 4 high · 1 watch

🔴Debt has risen sharplyFinancial
Total debt is up 280% over 3 years, from ₹10 Cr to ₹40 Cr.
🔴Free cash flow negative for 4 yearsFinancial
The business has not covered its capital spending from operations for several years running, which has to be funded externally.
🔴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 6724% against revenue up 2119% — sales are being booked faster than they are collected.
🟡Shareholders have been dilutedOwnership
Shares outstanding are up 112% over 3 years — each existing share owns a smaller slice of the company.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Margin expansion has further to run
EBITDA margin has risen from -32.9% to 16.3%. If that holds, profit compounds faster than sales and today's multiple looks cheaper in hindsight than it does now.
Cheaper than its peers
It trades 70% below the sector median. Either the market sees a problem the numbers do not show, or the discount closes.

🔴 Bear CaseWhat could go wrong?

The debt load needs earnings to hold up
Debt is 4.6x 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 6724% against revenue up 2119%. 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 136% a year✓ 181.0% CAGR
Latest reported year was 4724.4%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.
2EBITDA margin holds above 14%✓ 16.3%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
3Debt / EBITDA falls below 3x✗ 4.6x
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✗ -₹25 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
5Interest cover stays above 3x✓ 3.8x
How much operating profit can fall before interest stops being comfortably covered.

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

4 good · 6 neutral · 1 weak

Market Cap

₹84 Cr

Micro Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

12.9x

Cheap

Cheap against the generic band

P/B Ratio

2.49x

Fair

Moderate premium to the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹3.87

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

12.5%

Moderate

Moderate capital efficiency

ROCE

11.4%

Moderate

Moderate return on the capital in the business

Debt/Equity

1.27x

Moderate

Moderate leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

4724.4%

Healthy

Healthy top-line growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

138.5%

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

-₹25 Cr

Cash burning

Spending more cash than the operations bring in

More Metrics

Operating Margin

14.9%

Average

Average margins

Net Margin

9.3%

Average

Average bottom-line conversion

Current Ratio

2.45

Comfortable

Healthy short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

0.13

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

50%

Mid-range

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

46.3 / 47.8

Bearish alignment (short < long)

Price vs SMA 200

Above

Long-term uptrend

RSI (14)

62.8

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹2 Cr	₹4 Cr	₹3 Cr	₹53 Cr	+181.0%
EBITDA	-₹1 Cr	-₹6 Cr	-₹9 Cr	₹9 Cr	—
EBITDA Margin	-32.9%	-141.8%	-260.5%	16.3%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	-₹2 Cr	-₹6 Cr	-₹10 Cr	₹4 Cr	—
EPS	₹-2.38	₹-7.62	₹-11.84	₹2.52	—
ROE	-15.9%	-100.9%	-47.1%	12.5%	—
ROCE	-5.5%	-33.0%	-25.1%	11.4%	—
Total Debt	₹10 Cr	₹10 Cr	₹17 Cr	₹40 Cr	+56.0%
Free Cash Flow	-₹2 Cr	-₹1 Cr	-₹30 Cr	-₹25 Cr	—

🟢 Revenue has grown at 181.0% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA has turned positive, from -₹1 Cr to ₹9 Cr.

🟢 EBITDA Margin has risen from -32.9% to 16.3% over 3 years (+49.2 pts).

🟢 PAT (Net Profit) has turned positive, from -₹2 Cr to ₹4 Cr.

🟢 EPS has turned positive, from ₹-2.38 to ₹2.52.

🟢 ROE has risen from -15.9% to 12.5% over 3 years (+28.4 pts).

🟢 ROCE has risen from -5.5% to 11.4% over 3 years (+16.9 pts).

🔴 Total Debt has grown at 56.0% a year over 3 years.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹109 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹78 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹2 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

-₹24 Cr

Capex

-₹0 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

0.0%

Insider Holding

76.2%

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
HINDUSTAN UNILEVER LTD.	42.5x	21.5%
ITC LTD	16.6x	27.4%
NESTLE INDIA LIMITED	59.8x	79.9%
BRITANNIA INDUSTRIES LTD	44.1x	51.0%

Recent News

1 mixed5 general

Ironwood Education Ltd. Shareholding Pattern – Promoters, FIIs & DIIs

Value Research, 04 Sept

Ironwood Education board approves name change to Ironwood Realty

scanx.trade, 05 Oct

Starbeam Ventures (BSE:539175) - Stock Analysis

Simply Wall Street, 27 Jun

Ironwood Education reschedules board meeting to Aug 14 for results

scanx.trade, 11 AugResults

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

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals: The Stock Is A Call On The Second Apraglutide Trial - Buy

Seeking Alpha, 07 Oct

Ironwood Appoints Balaji Raghavan to Lead Affordable Housing Portfolio

Business Standard, 26 Nov

Watch Items

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

DalalBaazaar Thesis

StrongBusiness Quality · Growth · Valuation

MiddlingFinancial Health · Profitability

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

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