Orient Press Limited

Consumer Cyclical — Packaging & Containers · NSE

₹76.90+₹0.80 (+1.05%)

DalalBaazaar Score

42 / 100

🟡 Moderate

Verdict

CAUTION

Risk

High

Driven by moderate debt load, the company is currently loss-making, micro-cap size, which brings thin liquidity.

In simple words: The company is currently losing money, but sales are shrinking. Whether sales start growing again is the main factor to watch.

Decision support, not a buy or sell call.

As of 18 Oct 2026, 6:09 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 Orient Press Limited — what it does, how it earns, and who it competes with, before any of the numbers below.

What does this company do?

Orient Press Limited provides printing and packaging solutions in India and internationally. It operates through three segments: Printing, Flexible Packaging, and Paper Board Packaging.

IndustryPackaging & Containers

SectorConsumer Cyclical

Employees68

Annual revenue₹127 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹127 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹-1 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹6 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 68 employees supports ₹1.87 Cr of revenue a year, the signature of a capital- or asset-led business.

EBITDA margin6.1%

Net margin-0.9%

Revenue / employee₹1.87 Cr

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are MARUTI SUZUKI INDIA LTD., TITAN COMPANY LIMITED, TRENT LTD, AVENUE SUPERMARTS LIMITED. These are the companies its valuation and returns are measured against elsewhere in this report.

MARUTI SUZUKI INDIA LTD.P/E 25.2x · ROE 13.4%

TITAN COMPANY LIMITEDP/E 68.5x · ROE 36.7%

TRENT LTDP/E 87.2x · ROE 25.9%

AVENUE SUPERMARTS LIMITEDP/E 69.9x · ROE 12.7%

What is its competitive advantage?Little sign of one

Returns on capital of 5.0% 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.

ROCE5.0%

ROE-1.8%

Peer median ROE25.9%

What has been driving growth?

Profit has moved mainly because margins changed, not because the business sold much more. Over 3 years revenue moved -25% while net margin moved -54% 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-25%

Margin effect-54%

DalalBaazaar Score

42/ 100

Moderate

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✗ Revenue has contracted at 9.2% a year
✗ Latest-year revenue growth of -18.0% is below the longer-term trend — momentum is fading

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

40/ 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

1.19x

EV/EBITDA

17.4x

PEG

—

Dividend Yield

None

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well5

Margins are improving
EBITDA margin is up from 3.3% to 6.1% over 3 years.
Debt is being paid down
Total debt is down 16% over 3 years.
Cash flow has turned positive
Free cash flow moved from negative to positive over 3 years.
Return on equity is rising
ROE has improved from -4.9% to -1.8%.
Return on capital is rising
ROCE has improved from 1.8% to 5.0%.

🔴 What Needs Attention0

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

Red Flags

2 items require attention · 2 high

🔴Thin interest coverageFinancial
Operating profit covers interest only 0.7x — little room if earnings dip.
🔴The company is lossmakingFinancial
Net profit of -₹1 Cr in the latest reported year.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Margin expansion has further to run
EBITDA margin has risen from 3.3% to 6.1%. 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 16% 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 7.5x 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 4%✓ 6.1%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
2Debt / EBITDA falls below 3x✗ 7.5x
Already stretched, so this is a reduction target rather than a level to hold. Around 3x is where lenders typically start attaching conditions.
3Interest cover stays above 3x✗ 0.7x
How much operating profit can fall before interest stops being comfortably covered.
4Free cash flow remains positive✓ ₹8 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
5ROCE stays above 8%✗ 5.0%
Falling returns on capital are usually competition arriving, and show up here before they reach the margin.

Investment Checklist

6 / 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

₹77 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

1.19x

Reasonable

Reasonable against the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹-1.63

Loss-making

Negative earnings per share — the business is losing money

ROE

-1.8%

Weak

Weak capital efficiency

ROCE

5.0%

Weak

Low return on total capital employed

Debt/Equity

0.90x

Moderate

Moderate leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

-18.0%

Shrinking

Sales are contracting

Profit Growth (YoY)

57.7%

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

₹8 Cr

Cash generative

Generates cash even after funding its capex

More Metrics

CMP

₹76.9

P/E (Forward)

12.8x

Operating Margin

-5.9%

Weak

Thin margins leave little room for error

Net Margin

-1.3%

Weak

Very little revenue reaches the bottom line

Current Ratio

1.13

Adequate

Adequate, but no real cushion

Beta (vs Nifty)

0.10

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

48%

Mid-range

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

78.4 / 79.6

Bearish alignment (short < long)

Price vs SMA 200

Above

Long-term uptrend

RSI (14)

34.6

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹170 Cr	₹169 Cr	₹142 Cr	₹127 Cr	-9.2%
EBITDA	₹6 Cr	₹8 Cr	₹6 Cr	₹8 Cr	+11.0%
EBITDA Margin	3.3%	4.5%	4.0%	6.1%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	-₹3 Cr	-₹1 Cr	-₹3 Cr	-₹1 Cr	—
EPS	₹-3.39	₹-1.06	₹-2.78	₹-1.17	—
ROE	-4.9%	-1.6%	-4.2%	-1.8%	—
ROCE	1.8%	4.4%	2.6%	5.0%	—
Total Debt	₹69 Cr	₹67 Cr	₹64 Cr	₹58 Cr	-5.6%
Free Cash Flow	-₹6 Cr	₹10 Cr	₹5 Cr	₹8 Cr	—

🔴 Revenue has shrunk at 9.2% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA has grown at 11.0% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA Margin has risen from 3.3% to 6.1% over 3 years (+2.8 pts).

🟢 ROE has risen from -4.9% to -1.8% over 3 years (+3.1 pts).

🟢 ROCE has risen from 1.8% to 5.0% over 3 years (+3.2 pts).

🟢 Total Debt has shrunk at 5.6% a year over 3 years.

🟢 Free Cash Flow has turned positive, from -₹6 Cr to ₹8 Cr.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹160 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹95 Cr

Total Debt

₹58 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹0 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

₹9 Cr

Capex

-₹1 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

0.0%

Insider Holding

82.9%

Corporate Actions

Ex-Dividend Date

12 Sept 2019

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
MARUTI SUZUKI INDIA LTD.	25.2x	13.4%
TITAN COMPANY LIMITED	68.5x	36.7%
TRENT LTD	87.2x	25.9%
AVENUE SUPERMARTS LIMITED	69.9x	12.7%

Recent News

2 mixed4 general

Compare with ORIENT PRESS

Equitymaster, 16 Oct

Orient Press vs Nifty 50: 1Y Return -6.11% vs -11.71%

Univest, 09 Oct

Orient Press promoter acquires 4,573 shares, holding rises to 0.25%

scanx.trade, 03 JulPrice 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.

Orient Press Ltd. Peer Comparison – Compare with Others

Value Research, 30 Aug

Orient Press reports standalone net loss of Rs 1.25 crore in the June 2026 quarter

Business Standard, 12 AugResults

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

Orient Press Share Price Forecast: 3 Year Outlook to 2030

Univest, 22 Jul

Watch Items

Revenue growth is negative (-18.0%) on the latest reported period — check if this is one-off or a trend.
Cross-check against the company's latest quarterly filing / investor presentation before acting.

DalalBaazaar Thesis

🔴Business QualityWeak7.5/20

🟡Financial HealthAdequate12.7/20

🔴GrowthWeak5/20

🔴ProfitabilityWeak5/15

🟡ValuationFair7.1/15

🔴RiskHigh4.4/10

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 4%6.1%
✗Debt / EBITDA falls below 3x7.5x
✗Interest cover stays above 3x0.7x
✓Free cash flow remains positive₹8 Cr
✗ROCE stays above 8%5.0%