Plaza Wires Limited

Industrials — Electrical Equipment & Parts · NSE

₹56.40+₹0.53 (+0.95%)

DalalBaazaar Score

49 / 100

🟡 Moderate

Verdict

NEUTRAL

Risk

Moderate

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

In simple words: The business is earning a fairly low return on the money invested in it, 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, 7:46 pm

Understanding the Business

Company site ↗

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

What does this company do?

Plaza Wires Limited manufactures and sells electrical wires and allied products in India.

IndustryElectrical Equipment & Parts

SectorIndustrials

Employees199

Annual revenue₹318 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹318 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹2 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹5 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 199 employees supports ₹1.60 Cr of revenue a year, the signature of a capital- or asset-led business.

Revenue / employee₹1.60 Cr

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.

Compared side by side in Peers ↓

What is its competitive advantage?Little sign of one

Returns on capital of 9.6% 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 ROE17.1%

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 +74% while net margin moved -43% 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+74%

Margin effect-43%

DalalBaazaar Score

49/ 100

Moderate

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✗ ROCE of 9.6% is below 10% — capital is not working hard
✗ ROCE has fallen by 14.1 points — returns are eroding
✗ EBITDA margin of 5.1% is thin — little cushion if costs rise
✗ Net margin of 3.1% is slim
• Revenue has compounded at 20.3% a year, which is the base these returns are earned on

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

47/ 100

Average

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

Valuation

63/ 100

Fair

What you are being asked to pay, ignoring how good the business is.

A reasonable business at a reasonable price — neither the quality nor the valuation stands out in either direction.

Historical Valuation

Current P/E

23.0x

3Y Median

60.6x

38 monthly readings · mean 61.8x · range 33.8x–99.1x

Sector Median

88.8x

median of 3 sector peers

🟢Current valuation is approximately 62% below its 3y median of 60.6x. 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 74% below the peer median of 88.8x.

vs. its own history

Cheap

60.6x median over 38 months · -62%

vs. sector peers

Cheap

88.8x median of 3 peers · -74%

vs. generic bands

Fair

15x–35x

EV/EBITDA

17.3x

PEG

840.13

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well3

Debt is being paid down
Total debt is down 19% over 3 years.
Very low debt
Debt/Equity of 0.25x leaves the balance sheet with plenty of headroom.
Consistently profitable
Profitable in every one of the last 4 reported years.

🔴 What Needs Attention2

Return on equity is falling
ROE has dropped from 13.7% to 5.6% — each rupee of shareholder capital earns less than it did.
Return on capital is falling
ROCE has declined from 23.7% to 9.6% — often a sign of competition or overexpansion.

Red Flags

3 items require attention · 1 high · 2 watch

🔴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.
🟡Free cash flow is negativeFinancial
Free cash flow was -₹4 Cr in the latest year.
🟡Margins are compressingFinancial
EBITDA margin is down 3.7 points over 3 years.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Deleveraging frees up earnings
Debt is down 19% over 3 years. Every rupee of interest not paid drops to the bottom line, so profit can grow even if revenue does not.
Priced below its own history
The stock trades 62% 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 74% 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?

Margins are being competed away
EBITDA margin has fallen from 8.7% to 5.1%. If the trend continues, profit falls even on flat sales — and margin decline rarely reverses quickly.
Returns on shareholder capital are falling
ROE has dropped from 13.7% to 5.6%. 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.

🟡 Key Things to WatchMeasurable tripwires, set against where this company stands today

1Revenue growth stays above 15% a year✓ 20.3% CAGR
Latest reported year was 38.1%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.
2EBITDA margin holds above 3%✓ 5.1%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
3Free cash flow remains positive✗ -₹4 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
4Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x✓ 2.0x
The ratio lenders write covenants against; it survives a small or negative equity base, unlike Debt/Equity.
5ROCE stays above 8%✓ 9.6%
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

4 good · 5 neutral · 2 weak

Market Cap

₹247 Cr

Micro Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

23.0x

Fair

Fairly valued against the generic band

P/B Ratio

1.91x

Fair

Moderate premium to the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹2.45

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

5.6%

Weak

Weak capital efficiency

ROCE

9.6%

Moderate

Moderate return on the capital in the business

Debt/Equity

0.25x

Low

Conservative leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

38.1%

Healthy

Healthy top-line growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

312.0%

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

-₹4 Cr

Cash burning

Spending more cash than the operations bring in

More Metrics

Operating Margin

7.7%

Average

Average margins

Net Margin

3.1%

Average

Average bottom-line conversion

Current Ratio

2.54

Comfortable

Healthy short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

1.18

Market-like

Moves roughly in line with the market

52W Range Position

75%

Mid-range

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

58.6 / 56.6

Bullish alignment (short > long)

Price vs SMA 200

Above

Long-term uptrend

RSI (14)

44.3

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹182 Cr	₹199 Cr	₹218 Cr	₹318 Cr	+20.3%
EBITDA	₹16 Cr	₹11 Cr	₹9 Cr	₹16 Cr	+0.4%
EBITDA Margin	8.7%	5.5%	4.0%	5.1%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹7 Cr	₹4 Cr	₹3 Cr	₹7 Cr	+0.0%
EPS	₹1.67	₹1	₹0.66	₹1.67	+0.0%
ROE	13.7%	3.1%	2.4%	5.6%	—
ROCE	23.7%	7.6%	5.3%	9.6%	—
Total Debt	₹40 Cr	₹41 Cr	₹25 Cr	₹32 Cr	-6.9%
Free Cash Flow	₹5 Cr	₹168 Cr	-₹12 Cr	-₹4 Cr	—

🟢 Revenue has grown at 20.3% a year over 3 years.

🟡 EBITDA has been broadly flat over 3 years (0.4% a year).

🔴 EBITDA Margin has fallen from 8.7% to 5.1% over 3 years (-3.7 pts).

🟡 PAT (Net Profit) has been broadly flat over 3 years (0.0% a year).

🟡 EPS has been broadly flat over 3 years (0.0% a year).

🔴 ROE has fallen from 13.7% to 5.6% over 3 years (-8.1 pts).

🔴 ROCE has fallen from 23.7% to 9.6% over 3 years (-14.1 pts).

🟢 Total Debt has shrunk at 6.9% a year over 3 years.

🔴 Free Cash Flow has turned negative, from ₹5 Cr to -₹4 Cr.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹183 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹53 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹0 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

₹4 Cr

Capex

-₹8 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

0.0%

Insider Holding

69.8%

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 positive5 general

Here's Why We Think Plaza Wires (NSE:PLAZACABLE) Is Well Worth Watching

Simply Wall Street, 16 Aug

Plaza Wires Ltd Peer Comparison – Compare with Others

Value Research, 04 Sept

Plaza Wires Ltd. Lower Circuit Today: Price, Data and Peers

Univest, 01 Oct

Plaza Wires FY26 net profit rises 153% to ₹73.03 million

scanx.trade, 25 MayResults

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

Plaza Wires Upper Circuit Today: Price, Data and Peers

Univest, 06 Oct

The Returns On Capital At Plaza Wires (NSE:PLAZACABLE) Don't Inspire Confidence

Simply Wall Street, 30 Jan

Watch Items

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

DalalBaazaar Thesis

StrongFinancial Health · Valuation

MiddlingGrowth

WeakBusiness Quality · Profitability · Risk

Points for each in the Score ↑

Unremarkable in both directions

A reasonable business at a reasonable price. Nothing here is alarming and nothing is compelling, which usually means the decision rests on things this data cannot see — the industry's direction, management's intent, and what else is available to you. 1 high-severity red flag sits above this conclusion and should be read first.

1 of 5 tripwires tripped — Free cash flow remains positive · see Key things to watch ↑