Network18 Media & Investments Limited

Communication Services — Entertainment · NSE

₹26.37−₹0.31 (−1.16%)

DalalBaazaar Score

37 / 100

🔴 Weak

Verdict

CAUTION

Risk

Very High

Driven by short-term liabilities exceed short-term assets, negative free cash flow, the company is currently loss-making.

In simple words: The company is currently losing money, 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, 6:02 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 Network18 Media & Investments Limited — what it does, how it earns, and who it competes with, before any of the numbers below.

What does this company do?

Network18 Media & Investments Limited engages in broadcasting, digital content, print, and allied businesses in India.

IndustryEntertainment

SectorCommunication Services

Employees4,905

Annual revenue₹2,038 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹2,038 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹7 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹18 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 4,905 employees supports ₹41.6 lakh of revenue a year, the signature of a people-led business.

EBITDA margin18.1%

Net margin7.5%

Revenue / employee₹41.6 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.

BHARTI AIRTEL LIMITEDP/E 39.8x · ROE 20.2%

VODAFONE IDEA LIMITEDP/E 3.6x · ROE —

What is its competitive advantage?Little sign of one

Returns on capital of 6.8% 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.

ROCE6.8%

ROE3.1%

Peer median ROE20.2%

What has been driving growth?

Profit has moved mainly because margins changed, not because the business sold much more. Over 3 years revenue moved -67% while net margin moved -645% 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-67%

Margin effect-645%

DalalBaazaar Score

37/ 100

Weak

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✗ Revenue has contracted at 30.8% a year

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

34/ 100

Weak

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

Valuation

36/ 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

No P/E — the company is lossmaking

P/E (Trailing)

Not meaningful

P/B

0.82x

EV/EBITDA

19.9x

PEG

—

Dividend Yield

None

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well4

Margins are improving
EBITDA margin is up from 4.9% to 18.1% over 3 years.
Debt is being paid down
Total debt is down 46% over 3 years.
Return on equity is rising
ROE has improved from -12.5% to 3.1%.
Return on capital is rising
ROCE has improved from 3.6% to 6.8%.

🔴 What Needs Attention2

Free cash flow is negative
The business is not currently covering its capital spending from operations.
Short-term liquidity is tight
Current ratio of 0.26 — near-term obligations exceed near-term assets.

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.
🔴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.
🟡Shareholders have been dilutedOwnership
Shares outstanding are up 47% over 3 years — each existing share owns a smaller slice of the company.
🟡Short-term liquidity is tightFinancial
Current ratio of 0.26 — near-term obligations exceed near-term assets.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Margin expansion has further to run
EBITDA margin has risen from 4.9% to 18.1%. If that holds, profit compounds faster than sales and today's multiple looks cheaper in hindsight than it does now.
Deleveraging frees up earnings
Debt is down 46% over 3 years. Every rupee of interest not paid drops to the bottom line, so profit can grow even if revenue does not.

🔴 Bear CaseWhat could go wrong?

The debt load needs earnings to hold up
Debt is 8.9x EBITDA. At that level a downturn in earnings turns a manageable balance sheet into a refinancing problem, and lenders get paid before shareholders.
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
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 16%✓ 18.1%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
2Debt / EBITDA falls below 3x✗ 8.9x
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✗ -₹79 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 8%✗ 6.8%
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 · 3 neutral · 5 weak

Market Cap

₹4,073 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

0.82x

Reasonable

Reasonable against the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹-0.22

Loss-making

Negative earnings per share — the business is losing money

ROE

3.1%

Weak

Weak capital efficiency

ROCE

6.8%

Weak

Low return on total capital employed

Debt/Equity

0.66x

Moderate

Moderate leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

10.3%

Healthy

Healthy top-line growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

109.0%

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

-₹79 Cr

Cash burning

Spending more cash than the operations bring in

More Metrics

CMP

₹26.37

Operating Margin

-4.6%

Weak

Thin margins leave little room for error

Net Margin

-1.6%

Weak

Very little revenue reaches the bottom line

Current Ratio

0.26

Tight

Tight short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

0.27

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

Near low

Near its 52-week low

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

26.1 / 27.5

Bearish alignment (short < long)

Price vs SMA 200

Below

Long-term downtrend

RSI (14)

47.8

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹6,146 Cr	₹9,179 Cr	₹6,797 Cr	₹2,038 Cr	-30.8%
EBITDA	₹301 Cr	-₹169 Cr	₹226 Cr	₹369 Cr	+7.0%
EBITDA Margin	4.9%	-1.8%	3.3%	18.1%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	-₹84 Cr	-₹206 Cr	-₹1,687 Cr	₹152 Cr	—
EPS	₹-0.81	₹-1.35	₹-11.02	₹0.99	—
ROE	-12.5%	-1.4%	-35.6%	3.1%	—
ROCE	3.6%	-0.3%	-25.7%	6.8%	—
Total Debt	₹6,069 Cr	₹8,156 Cr	₹2,960 Cr	₹3,288 Cr	-18.5%
Free Cash Flow	-₹3,536 Cr	-₹8,869 Cr	-₹2,811 Cr	-₹79 Cr	—

🔴 Revenue has shrunk at 30.8% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA has grown at 7.0% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA Margin has risen from 4.9% to 18.1% over 3 years (+13.2 pts).

🟢 PAT (Net Profit) has turned positive, from -₹84 Cr to ₹152 Cr.

🟢 EPS has turned positive, from ₹-0.81 to ₹0.99.

🟢 ROE has risen from -12.5% to 3.1% over 3 years (+15.6 pts).

🟢 ROCE has risen from 3.6% to 6.8% over 3 years (+3.2 pts).

🟢 Total Debt has shrunk at 18.5% a year over 3 years.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹8,996 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹4,009 Cr

Total Debt

₹3,288 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹39 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

-₹28 Cr

Capex

-₹51 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

1.9%

Insider Holding

61.5%

Corporate Actions

Ex-Dividend Date

14 Feb 2008

Peer Comparison

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

Recent News

1 positive1 mixed4 general

Network18 Media & Investments Limited's (NSE:NETWORK18) Share Price Not Quite Adding Up

Simply Wall Street, 21 Jan

Network18 sets Sept 16 AGM; e-voting window opens Sept 12

scanx.trade, 22 Aug

Nifty Media index tanks 4.5%; Zee Entertainment, Network18 plunge up to 14%

Business Standard, 31 Aug

Network 18 Media & Investments Ltd. (NETWORK18) Share Price Rises 10.24% in Small Cap Move

Univest, 20 AugPrice 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.

Network18 Q4 loss at Rs 29.61 crore, revenue up 9.7% to Rs 615.78 cr

The Economic Times, 18 AprResults

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

Network 18 Share Price near 52-week trough: price and peers

Univest, 12 Oct

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.

DalalBaazaar Thesis

🟡Business QualityAdequate9/20

🔴Financial HealthStretched8.6/20

🔴GrowthWeak2.4/20

🔴ProfitabilityWeak5.9/15

🟡ValuationFair7.1/15

🔴RiskHigh4/10

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 16%18.1%
✗Debt / EBITDA falls below 3x8.9x
✗Free cash flow remains positive-₹79 Cr
✗Interest cover stays above 3x1.8x
✗ROCE stays above 8%6.8%