The Sandur Manganese & Iron Ores Limited

Basic Materials — Steel · NSE

₹174.85−₹0.36 (−0.21%)

DalalBaazaar Score

76 / 100

🟢 Good

Verdict

REASONABLE

Risk

Low

Driven by small-cap size, which brings sharper price swings.

In simple words: Strong business and financial position, with both sales and profits growing well. Nothing obvious stands out as stretched — the usual checks on business quality and management still apply.

Decision support, not a buy or sell call.

As of 18 Oct 2026, 6:09 pm

Constructive picture on fundamentals. Profitability, leverage and growth metrics are broadly healthy on this snapshot. That said, valuation should still be checked against direct sector peers (not just the generic P/E bands used here) before treating this as a buy signal.

Understanding the Business

Company site ↗

The 60-second version of The Sandur Manganese & Iron Ores Limited — what it does, how it earns, and who it competes with, before any of the numbers below.

What does this company do?

The Sandur Manganese & Iron Ores Limited, together with its subsidiary, engages in the mining of manganese and iron ores in Deogiri village of Ballari District, Karnataka. It operates through three segments: Mining, Ferroalloys, and Coke and Energy.

IndustrySteel

SectorBasic Materials

Employees2,707

Annual revenue₹5,031 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹5,031 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹13 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹25 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 2,707 employees supports ₹1.86 Cr of revenue a year, the signature of a capital- or asset-led business.

EBITDA margin24.9%

Net margin13.1%

Revenue / employee₹1.86 Cr

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are TATA STEEL LIMITED, JSW STEEL LIMITED, JINDAL STEEL LIMITED, STEEL AUTHORITY OF INDIA. These are the companies its valuation and returns are measured against elsewhere in this report.

TATA STEEL LIMITEDP/E 19.8x · ROE 10.8%

JSW STEEL LIMITEDP/E 12.0x · ROE 24.7%

JINDAL STEEL LIMITEDP/E 39.1x · ROE 5.3%

STEEL AUTHORITY OF INDIAP/E 16.5x · ROE 7.1%

What is its competitive advantage?Some evidence

ROCE of 25.7% is above what capital typically costs, which suggests some pricing power, though not yet the sustained, wide gap that marks a durable advantage.

ROCE25.7%

ROE20.2%

Peer median ROE10.8%

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 +138% while net margin moved +2% 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+138%

Margin effect+2%

DalalBaazaar Score

76/ 100

Good

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

• Beta of 0.84 — moves roughly with the market
✗ Small Cap: thinner liquidity and sharper drawdowns are normal

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

79/ 100

Good

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

Valuation

86/ 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

11.9x

3Y Median

24.6x

39 monthly readings · mean 24.5x · range 12.9x–34.2x

Sector Median

18.2x

median of 4 sector peers

🟢Current valuation is approximately 52% below its 3y median of 24.6x. 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 35% below the peer median of 18.2x.

vs. its own history

Cheap

24.6x median over 39 months · -52%

vs. sector peers

Cheap

18.2x median of 4 peers · -35%

vs. generic bands

Cheap

Below 15x

P/E (Trailing)

11.9x

P/B

2.61x

EV/EBITDA

7.5x

PEG

0.35

Dividend Yield

0.29%

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well7

Margins are improving
EBITDA margin is up from 20.9% to 24.9% 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 14.0% to 20.2%.
Return on capital is rising
ROCE has improved from 18.3% to 25.7%.
High return on capital employed
ROCE of 25.7% is the mark of a business that converts capital into profit efficiently.
Valuation below its historical average
At 11.9x the stock trades 52% below its own median of 24.6x.
Consistently profitable
Profitable in every one of the last 4 reported years.

🔴 What Needs Attention3

Debt is rising
Total debt is up 385% over 3 years — worth checking what it funded.
Receivables growing faster than sales
Receivables are up 204% against revenue growth of 138% — customers are taking longer to pay.
Inventory building faster than sales
Inventory is up 199% against revenue growth of 138% — stock may not be moving.

Red Flags

4 items require attention · 3 high · 1 watch

🔴Debt has risen sharplyFinancial
Total debt is up 385% over 3 years, from ₹206 Cr to ₹999 Cr.
🔴Receivables growing faster than salesFinancial
Receivables up 204% against revenue up 138% — sales are being booked faster than they are collected.
🔴Inventory building faster than salesFinancial
Inventory up 199% against revenue up 138% — stock may not be moving.
🟡Interest coverage is deterioratingFinancial
Cover has fallen from 7.7x to 5.4x.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Capital compounds at a high rate
ROCE of 25.7% 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 20.9% to 24.9%. 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 52% 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 35% below the sector median. Either the market sees a problem the numbers do not show, or the discount closes.
Self-funding with balance-sheet headroom
Positive free cash flow of ₹988 Cr alongside low debt means growth, buybacks or dividends need no outside money — and a downturn can be absorbed rather than refinanced.

🔴 Bear CaseWhat could go wrong?

Sales are being booked faster than collected
Receivables are up 204% against revenue up 138%. 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
Small 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
3 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 25% a year✓ 33.5% CAGR
Latest reported year was 21.1%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.
2EBITDA margin holds above 23%✓ 24.9%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
3Free cash flow remains positive✓ ₹988 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
4Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x✓ 0.8x
The ratio lenders write covenants against; it survives a small or negative equity base, unlike Debt/Equity.
5ROCE stays above 23%✓ 25.7%
Falling returns on capital are usually competition arriving, and show up here before they reach the margin.

Investment Checklist

10 / 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

8 good · 3 neutral · 0 weak

Market Cap

₹8,500 Cr

Small Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

11.9x

Cheap

Cheap against the generic band

P/B Ratio

2.61x

Fair

Moderate premium to the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹14.75

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

20.2%

Strong

Strong capital efficiency

ROCE

25.7%

Strong

Earns comfortably above its likely cost of capital

Debt/Equity

0.31x

Low

Conservative leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

21.1%

Healthy

Healthy top-line growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

34.2%

Healthy

Profits growing at a healthy clip

Dividend Yield

0.29%

Modest

Small cash return — most of the return has to come from the price

Free Cash Flow

₹988 Cr

Cash generative

Generates cash even after funding its capex

More Metrics

CMP

₹174.85

Operating Margin

21.3%

Good

Healthy core-business profitability

Net Margin

13.5%

Good

Strong bottom-line conversion

Current Ratio

1.16

Adequate

Adequate, but no real cushion

Beta (vs Nifty)

0.84

Market-like

Moves roughly in line with the market

52W Range Position

Near low

Near its 52-week low

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

180.8 / 191.9

Bearish alignment (short < long)

Price vs SMA 200

Below

Long-term downtrend

RSI (14)

31.0

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹2,113 Cr	₹1,238 Cr	₹3,103 Cr	₹5,031 Cr	+33.5%
EBITDA	₹442 Cr	₹382 Cr	₹805 Cr	₹1,254 Cr	+41.6%
EBITDA Margin	20.9%	30.9%	25.9%	24.9%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹271 Cr	₹239 Cr	₹470 Cr	₹657 Cr	+34.3%
EPS	₹5.62	₹4.93	₹9.67	₹13.51	+33.9%
ROE	14.0%	11.1%	18.0%	20.2%	—
ROCE	18.3%	14.8%	17.5%	25.7%	—
Total Debt	₹206 Cr	₹133 Cr	₹1,890 Cr	₹999 Cr	+69.3%
Free Cash Flow	-₹45 Cr	₹50 Cr	₹753 Cr	₹988 Cr	—

🟢 Revenue has grown at 33.5% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA has grown at 41.6% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA Margin has risen from 20.9% to 24.9% over 3 years (+4.0 pts).

🟢 PAT (Net Profit) has grown at 34.3% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EPS has grown at 33.9% a year over 3 years.

🟢 ROE has risen from 14.0% to 20.2% over 3 years (+6.2 pts).

🟢 ROCE has risen from 18.3% to 25.7% over 3 years (+7.4 pts).

🔴 Total Debt has grown at 69.3% a year over 3 years.

🟢 Free Cash Flow has turned positive, from -₹45 Cr to ₹988 Cr.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹5,527 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹2,257 Cr

Total Debt

₹999 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹53 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

₹1,143 Cr

Capex

-₹155 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

0.7%

Insider Holding

75.9%

Corporate Actions

Dividend Rate

₹0.5

Ex-Dividend Date

12 Aug 2026

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
TATA STEEL LIMITED	19.8x	10.8%
JSW STEEL LIMITED	12.0x	24.7%
JINDAL STEEL LIMITED	39.1x	5.3%
STEEL AUTHORITY OF INDIA	16.5x	7.1%

Recent News

1 positive1 mixed4 general

Lohagiri Industrials Files Corrigendum for Sandur Manganese Stake Disclosure

scanx.trade, 14 Oct

The Sandur Manganese & Iron Ores Limited (NSE:SANDUMA) Looks Interesting, And It's About To Pay A Dividend

Simply Wall Street, 08 AugCapital return

🟢Potentially positiveCash or shares returned to holders. A buyback is only good value if the shares were cheap when bought.

Why Is Sandur Manganese and Iron Ores Share Price Falling Key Reasons 2026

Univest, 26 JunPrice move

🟡Mixed / dependsA price move rather than a change in the business. If the figures on this page have not moved, the fall is either an opportunity or news they have yet to catch up with.

Sandur Manganese & Iron Ores (SANDUMA.NS) Eases 1.04% to ₹182.86 as Traders Track ₹173.72 Support - Swing Entry Signals

https://www.siam.in/, 28 Sept

Sandur Manganese forays into hospitality with new wholly owned subsidiary

Business Standard, 24 Aug

Sandur Manganese & Iron Ores Ltd. Key Financial Ratios – Valuation, Profitability & More

Value Research, 31 Aug

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 QualityStrong16.7/20

🟢Financial HealthStrong14.6/20

🟢GrowthStrong14.9/20

🟢ProfitabilityStrong12.9/15

🟢ValuationAttractive11.8/15

🟡RiskModerate4.9/10

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

This thesis breaks if

✓Revenue growth stays above 25% a year33.5% CAGR
✓EBITDA margin holds above 23%24.9%
✓Free cash flow remains positive₹988 Cr
✓Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x0.8x
✓ROCE stays above 23%25.7%