Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited

Communication Services — Telecom Services · NSE

₹23.49−₹0.11 (−0.47%)

DalalBaazaar Score

16 / 100

🔴 Poor

Verdict

HIGH RISK

Risk

Very High

Driven by negative shareholders' equity — the company owes more than it owns, short-term liabilities exceed short-term assets, the company is currently loss-making.

In simple words: The company owes more than it owns — years of losses have wiped out its net worth, with modest growth. Solvency — whether it can keep funding itself at all — is 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 Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited — what it does, how it earns, and who it competes with, before any of the numbers below.

What does this company do?

Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited, together with its subsidiaries, provides telecommunication services in India. It operates through three segments: Basic, Cellular, and Infrastructure Leasing.

IndustryTelecom Services

SectorCommunication Services

Employees2,795

Annual revenue₹425 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹425 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹-732 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹-37 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 2,795 employees supports ₹15.2 lakh of revenue a year, the signature of a people-led business.

Revenue / employee₹15.2 lakh

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 has been driving growth?

Profit has moved mainly because margins changed, not because the business sold much more. Over 3 years revenue moved -52% while net margin moved +120% 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-52%

Margin effect+120%

DalalBaazaar Score

16/ 100

Poor

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✗ Shareholders' equity is negative — accumulated losses exceed the capital in the business

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

15/ 100

Weak

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

Valuation

30/ 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.

vs. its own history

Not enough price and earnings history

vs. sector peers

Not enough peers with a usable P/E

vs. generic bands

N/A

Multiples unreliable — equity base is negative

EV/EBITDA

—

PEG

—

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well1

Cash generation is improving
Free cash flow is up 651% over 3 years.

🔴 What Needs Attention0

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

Red Flags

9 items require attention · 7 high · 2 watch

🔴Negative shareholders' equityFinancial
Liabilities exceed assets — accumulated losses have wiped out the company's net worth.
🔴Thin interest coverageFinancial
Operating profit covers interest only -0.1x — 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.
🔴The company is lossmakingFinancial
Net profit of -₹3,107 Cr in the latest reported year.
🔴Significant margin compressionFinancial
EBITDA margin has fallen 47.9 points, from 10.9% to -37.0%.
🔴Receivables growing faster than salesFinancial
Receivables up 145% against revenue up -52% — sales are being booked faster than they are collected.
🔴Inventory building faster than salesFinancial
Inventory up 30% against revenue up -52% — stock may not be moving.
🟡Debt is increasingFinancial
Total debt is up 25% over 3 years.
🟡Short-term liquidity is tightFinancial
Current ratio of 0.35 — near-term obligations exceed near-term assets.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

No clear supporting case emerges from the available numbers.

🔴 Bear CaseWhat could go wrong?

Solvency comes before everything else
Liabilities exceed assets. Until net worth is rebuilt, the equity is a claim on a business that owes more than it owns, and further losses or a funding squeeze can leave shareholders with nothing.
Margins are being competed away
EBITDA margin has fallen from 10.9% to -37.0%. 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 145% against revenue up -52%. If customers keep taking longer to pay, reported profit will not turn into cash — and write-offs follow if some never do.
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
7 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 -39%✓ -37.0%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
2Interest cover stays above 3x✗ -0.1x
How much operating profit can fall before interest stops being comfortably covered.
3Free cash flow remains positive✓ ₹152 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.

Investment Checklist

5 / 9 checks passed

✗ Shareholders' equity is positive (assets exceed liabilities)
✗ Healthy net margin (≥ 10%)
✓ Generates positive free cash flow
✗ 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

2 good · 5 neutral · 4 weak

Market Cap

₹1,480 Cr

Micro Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

Not meaningful

Loss-making

Earnings are negative, so a P/E multiple can't be read here

P/B Ratio

Not available

No data

Source didn't return this field

EPS (TTM)

₹-47.72

Loss-making

Negative earnings per share — the business is losing money

ROE

Not meaningful

Negative equity

Return on equity can't be read when equity itself is negative

ROCE

Not available

No data

Source didn't return this field

Debt/Equity

Not meaningful

Negative equity

Shareholders' equity is negative, so this ratio can't be read

Revenue Growth (YoY)

229.9%

Healthy

Healthy top-line growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

6.6%

Modest

Slow profit growth

Dividend Yield

None

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

Free Cash Flow

₹152 Cr

Cash generative

Generates cash even after funding its capex

More Metrics

Operating Margin

-43.9%

Weak

Thin margins leave little room for error

Net Margin

0.0%

Weak

Very little revenue reaches the bottom line

Current Ratio

0.35

Tight

Tight short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

0.66

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

10%

Near low

Near its 52-week low

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

23.6 / 25.2

Bearish alignment (short < long)

Price vs SMA 200

Below

Long-term downtrend

RSI (14)

49.3

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹877 Cr	₹759 Cr	₹663 Cr	₹425 Cr	-21.5%
EBITDA	₹95 Cr	-₹101 Cr	-₹48 Cr	-₹157 Cr	—
EBITDA Margin	10.9%	-13.3%	-7.3%	-37.0%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	-₹2,915 Cr	-₹3,268 Cr	-₹3,328 Cr	-₹3,107 Cr	—
EPS	₹-46.27	₹-51.87	₹-52.82	₹-49.32	—
Total Debt	₹28,351 Cr	₹30,141 Cr	₹32,655 Cr	₹35,445 Cr	+7.7%
Free Cash Flow	₹20 Cr	₹57 Cr	₹304 Cr	₹152 Cr	+95.9%

🔴 Revenue has shrunk at 21.5% a year over 3 years.

🔴 EBITDA has turned negative, from ₹95 Cr to -₹157 Cr.

🔴 EBITDA Margin has fallen from 10.9% to -37.0% over 3 years (-47.9 pts).

🔴 Total Debt has grown at 7.7% a year over 3 years.

🟢 Free Cash Flow has grown at 95.9% a year over 3 years.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹10,076 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹40,035 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹137 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

₹176 Cr

Capex

-₹25 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

13.1%

Insider Holding

56.3%

Corporate Actions

Ex-Dividend Date

17 Sept 2009

Peer Comparison

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

Recent News

2 mixed1 negative3 general

MTNL Share Price Rise: Fundamentals and Telecom Context

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.

Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd is Rated Strong Sell

MarketsMojo, 13 Oct

MTNL shares rally 17% as board approves Rs 892 crore Powai property sale amid debt worries

The Economic Times, 01 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.

MTNL zooms 17% on board nod to Mumbai property sale worth ₹891.53 cr

Business Standard, 01 Oct

MTNL shares zoom over 17% as board approves sale of Powai property to Income Tax Department

Upstox, 30 Sept

MTNL fined ₹12.6 lakh by NSE for SEBI LODR non-compliance

scanx.trade, 15 OctRegulatory

🔴Potentially negativeRegulatory and legal actions carry a financial cost and a governance question. The second usually matters more than the first.

Watch Items

Trading very close to its 52-week low — worth checking whether this reflects a temporary setback or a structural problem.
Cross-check against the company's latest quarterly filing / investor presentation before acting.
2 metrics couldn't be retrieved for this stock — this is more common for smaller or thinly-covered listings.

DalalBaazaar Thesis

WeakBusiness Quality · Financial Health · Growth · Profitability · Valuation · Risk

Points for each in the Score ↑

Avoid until solvency is resolved

Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited owes more than it owns. Whatever the operating numbers show, the equity is a residual claim on a business with negative net worth, and that question has to be settled before any of the rest is worth weighing. 7 high-severity red flags sit above this conclusion and should be read first.

1 of 3 tripwires tripped — Interest cover stays above 3x · see Key things to watch ↑