JD Cables Limited

Industrials — Electrical Equipment & Parts · BSE

₹178.00+₹1.40 (+0.79%)

DalalBaazaar Score

64 / 100

🟢 Good

Verdict

REASONABLE

Risk

High

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

In simple words: Strong business and financial position, 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, 6:09 pm

Mixed / neutral. No major red flags jump out, but nothing here screams "obviously cheap" either. This is a name that needs a peer comparison and a view on near-term earnings triggers before sizing a position.

Understanding the Business

Company site ↗

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

What does this company do?

JD Cables Limited manufactures and sells wires, cables, and conductors in India.

IndustryElectrical Equipment & Parts

SectorIndustrials

Annual revenue₹365 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹365 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹9 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹13 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation.

EBITDA margin13.1%

Net margin8.7%

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.

SIEMENS LTDP/E 88.8x · ROE 10.5%

ABB INDIA LIMITEDP/E 92.6x · ROE 19.1%

HAVELLS INDIA LIMITEDP/E 43.5x · ROE 17.1%

What is its competitive advantage?The numbers suggest a real one

ROCE has stayed above 15% in every year available and stands at 31.9%. Returns that high normally get competed away; when they persist, something is protecting them, and its ROE of 36.0% against a peer median of 17.1% is consistent with that. What that something is — brand, scale, switching costs, regulation — the accounts cannot tell you.

ROCE31.9%

ROE36.0%

Peer median ROE17.1%

What has been driving growth?

Sales and margins have both contributed to where profit is now. Over 3 years revenue moved +792% while net margin moved +1012% 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+792%

Margin effect+1012%

DalalBaazaar Score

64/ 100

Good

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✗ 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

66/ 100

Good

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

Valuation

81/ 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

12.7x

1.3Y Median

18.9x

15 monthly readings · mean 19.4x · range 14.3x–24.1x

Sector Median

88.8x

median of 3 sector peers

🟢Current valuation is approximately 33% below its 1.3y median of 18.9x. 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 86% below the peer median of 88.8x.

vs. its own history

Cheap

18.9x median over 15 months · -33%

vs. sector peers

Cheap

88.8x median of 3 peers · -86%

vs. generic bands

Cheap

Below 15x

P/E (Trailing)

12.7x

P/B

2.75x

EV/EBITDA

9.6x

PEG

0.03

Dividend Yield

None

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well4

Margins are improving
EBITDA margin is up from 2.0% to 13.1% over 3 years.
High return on capital employed
ROCE of 31.9% is the mark of a business that converts capital into profit efficiently.
Valuation below its historical average
At 12.7x the stock trades 33% below its own median of 18.9x.
Consistently profitable
Profitable in every one of the last 4 reported years.

🔴 What Needs Attention6

Debt is rising
Total debt is up 1374% over 3 years — worth checking what it funded.
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 27.0% to 21.7% — each rupee of shareholder capital earns less than it did.
Return on capital is falling
ROCE has declined from 64.7% to 31.9% — often a sign of competition or overexpansion.
Receivables growing faster than sales
Receivables are up 890% against revenue growth of 792% — customers are taking longer to pay.
Inventory building faster than sales
Inventory is up 1333% against revenue growth of 792% — stock may not be moving.

Red Flags

5 items require attention · 5 high

🔴Debt has risen sharplyFinancial
Total debt is up 1374% over 3 years, from ₹4 Cr to ₹57 Cr.
🔴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.
🔴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 890% against revenue up 792% — sales are being booked faster than they are collected.
🔴Inventory building faster than salesFinancial
Inventory up 1333% against revenue up 792% — stock may not be moving.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Capital compounds at a high rate
ROCE of 31.9% means each rupee reinvested earns well above what capital costs. If the company can keep deploying at this rate, growth creates value rather than just consuming cash.
Margin expansion has further to run
EBITDA margin has risen from 2.0% to 13.1%. 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 33% 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 86% 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?

Sales are being booked faster than collected
Receivables are up 890% against revenue up 792%. If customers keep taking longer to pay, reported profit will not turn into cash — and write-offs follow if some never do.
Returns on shareholder capital are falling
ROE has dropped from 27.0% to 21.7%. 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.
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
5 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 81% a year✓ 107.4% CAGR
Latest reported year was 49.6%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.
2EBITDA margin holds above 11%✓ 13.1%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
3Free cash flow remains positive✗ -₹92 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
4Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x✓ 1.2x
The ratio lenders write covenants against; it survives a small or negative equity base, unlike Debt/Equity.
5ROCE stays above 29%✓ 31.9%
Falling returns on capital are usually competition arriving, and show up here before they reach the margin.

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

6 good · 3 neutral · 2 weak

Market Cap

₹401 Cr

Micro Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

12.7x

Cheap

Cheap against the generic band

P/B Ratio

2.75x

Fair

Moderate premium to the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹14.07

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

36.0%

Strong

Strong capital efficiency

ROCE

31.9%

Strong

Earns comfortably above its likely cost of capital

Debt/Equity

0.39x

Low

Conservative leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

49.6%

Healthy

Healthy top-line growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

-12.0%

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

-₹98 Cr

Cash burning

Spending more cash than the operations bring in

More Metrics

CMP

₹178

ROA

16.4%

Good

Assets are working hard

Operating Margin

11.4%

Average

Average margins

Net Margin

8.7%

Average

Average bottom-line conversion

Current Ratio

2.24

Comfortable

Healthy short-term liquidity

52W Range Position

39%

Mid-range

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

184.4 / 197.7

Bearish alignment (short < long)

Price vs SMA 200

Below

Long-term downtrend

RSI (14)

34.3

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹41 Cr	₹100 Cr	₹251 Cr	₹365 Cr	+107.4%
EBITDA	₹1 Cr	₹7 Cr	₹34 Cr	₹48 Cr	+290.2%
EBITDA Margin	2.0%	7.2%	13.6%	13.1%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹0 Cr	₹5 Cr	₹22 Cr	₹32 Cr	+363.0%
EPS	₹0.14	₹2.03	₹9.77	—	—
ROE	27.0%	58.5%	73.5%	21.7%	—
ROCE	64.7%	86.7%	105.0%	31.9%	—
Total Debt	₹4 Cr	₹18 Cr	₹46 Cr	₹57 Cr	+145.2%
Free Cash Flow	₹1 Cr	-₹14 Cr	-₹25 Cr	-₹92 Cr	—

🟢 Revenue has grown at 107.4% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA has grown at 290.2% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA Margin has risen from 2.0% to 13.1% over 3 years (+11.2 pts).

🟢 PAT (Net Profit) has grown at 363.0% a year over 3 years.

🔴 ROE has fallen from 27.0% to 21.7% over 3 years (-5.3 pts).

🔴 ROCE has fallen from 64.7% to 31.9% over 3 years (-32.8 pts).

🔴 Total Debt has grown at 145.2% a year over 3 years.

🔴 Free Cash Flow has turned negative, from ₹1 Cr to -₹92 Cr.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹237 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹91 Cr

Total Debt

₹57 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹0 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

-₹74 Cr

Capex

-₹18 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

0.0%

Insider Holding

70.0%

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

1 mixed5 general

Compare Birla Cable with

Equitymaster, 16 Oct

JD Cables reports FY26 revenue of ₹36,459.15 lakhs, expands EPC business

scanx.trade, 04 Oct

JD Cables Ltd Key Financial Ratios – Valuation, Profitability & More

Value Research, 03 Sept

JD Cables hosts analyst and investor meet on September 25

scanx.trade, 26 SeptAnalyst view

🟡Mixed / dependsBroker commentary — an opinion about the price rather than new information about the business.

JD Cables schedules 11th AGM for Sept 30, 2026 via video conference

scanx.trade, 14 Aug

Compare with

Equitymaster, 09 Oct

Watch Items

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

DalalBaazaar Thesis

🟡Business QualityAdequate12.6/20

🟢Financial HealthStrong13/20

🟢GrowthStrong14.9/20

🟡ProfitabilityModerate9.3/15

🟢ValuationAttractive11.8/15

🔴RiskHigh2.5/10

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

This thesis breaks if

✓Revenue growth stays above 81% a year107.4% CAGR
✓EBITDA margin holds above 11%13.1%
✗Free cash flow remains positive-₹92 Cr
✓Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x1.2x
✓ROCE stays above 29%31.9%