Shanti Educational Initiatives Limited

Consumer Defensive — Education & Training Services · NSE

₹183.05+₹0.94 (+0.52%)

DalalBaazaar Score

49 / 100

🟡 Moderate

Verdict

CAUTION

Risk

Very High

Driven by high debt relative to equity, 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 modest growth. Debt is 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 Shanti Educational Initiatives Limited — what it does, how it earns, and who it competes with, before any of the numbers below.

What does this company do?

Shanti Educational Initiatives Limited provides educational services in India. The company engages in educational projects for K-12 schools, pre-schools, and higher studies.

IndustryEducation & Training Services

SectorConsumer Defensive

Employees102

Annual revenue₹56 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹56 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹11 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹19 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 102 employees supports ₹54.5 lakh of revenue a year, the signature of a people-led business.

Revenue / employee₹54.5 lakh

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are HINDUSTAN UNILEVER LTD., ITC LTD, NESTLE INDIA LIMITED, BRITANNIA INDUSTRIES LTD. 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 10.4% 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 ROE51.0%

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 +406% while net margin moved -65% 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+406%

Margin effect-65%

DalalBaazaar Score

49/ 100

Moderate

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✗ P/E of 508.5x is demanding — it needs sustained high growth to justify
✗ P/B of 39.17x is a steep premium to book

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

56/ 100

Average

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

Valuation

23/ 100

Expensive

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

508.5x

Sector Median

43.3x

median of 4 sector peers

⚠️Against its sector it trades 1075% above the peer median of 43.3x.

vs. its own history

Not enough price and earnings history

vs. sector peers

Expensive

43.3x median of 4 peers · +1075%

vs. generic bands

Expensive

Above 35x

EV/EBITDA

280.3x

PEG

24.78

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well2

Return on capital is rising
ROCE has improved from 8.0% to 10.4%.
Consistently profitable
Profitable in every one of the last 4 reported years.

🔴 What Needs Attention0

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

Red Flags

6 items require attention · 6 high

🔴Debt has risen sharplyFinancial
Total debt is up 169% over 3 years, from ₹2 Cr to ₹6 Cr.
🔴High leverageFinancial
Debt/Equity of 7.65x — earnings must service borrowings before shareholders see anything.
🔴Free cash flow negative for 3 yearsFinancial
The business has not covered its capital spending from operations for several years running, which has to be funded externally.
🔴Significant margin compressionFinancial
EBITDA margin has fallen 44.3 points, from 63.2% to 18.9%.
🔴Receivables growing faster than salesFinancial
Receivables up 726% against revenue up 406% — sales are being booked faster than they are collected.
🔴Inventory building faster than salesFinancial
Inventory up 538% against revenue up 406% — stock may not be moving.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

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 63.2% to 18.9%. If the trend continues, profit falls even on flat sales — and margin decline rarely reverses quickly.
Leverage amplifies any setback
Debt/Equity of 7.65x. Interest is payable whether or not the business has a good year.
Sales are being booked faster than collected
Receivables are up 726% against revenue up 406%. If customers keep taking longer to pay, reported profit will not turn into cash — and write-offs follow if some never do.
A premium to the sector to defend
It trades 1075% above the peer median. That premium needs a reason that persists, or it closes.
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 54% a year✓ 71.7% CAGR
Latest reported year was 7.5%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.
2EBITDA margin holds above 17%✓ 18.9%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
3Free cash flow remains positive✗ -₹2 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
4Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x✓ 0.6x
The ratio lenders write covenants against; it survives a small or negative equity base, unlike Debt/Equity.
5ROCE stays above 8%✓ 10.4%
Falling returns on capital are usually competition arriving, and show up here before they reach the margin.

Investment Checklist

4 / 10 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

Price history

Quick Metrics

1 good · 5 neutral · 5 weak

Market Cap

₹2,947 Cr

Micro Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

508.5x

Expensive

Expensive — verify against sector peers

P/B Ratio

39.17x

Rich

Steep premium to book — needs high, durable returns to justify

EPS (TTM)

₹0.36

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

7.7%

Weak

Weak capital efficiency

ROCE

10.4%

Moderate

Moderate return on the capital in the business

Debt/Equity

7.65x

High

High leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

7.5%

Modest

Modest growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

0.0%

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

-₹2 Cr

Cash burning

Spending more cash than the operations bring in

More Metrics

Operating Margin

23.8%

Good

Healthy core-business profitability

Net Margin

10.2%

Good

Strong bottom-line conversion

Current Ratio

1.43

Comfortable

Healthy short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

0.12

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

18%

Mid-range

Technical Snapshot

RSI (14)

31.6

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹11 Cr	₹19 Cr	₹59 Cr	₹56 Cr	+71.7%
EBITDA	₹7 Cr	₹6 Cr	₹11 Cr	₹11 Cr	+14.9%
EBITDA Margin	63.2%	29.5%	19.4%	18.9%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹3 Cr	₹4 Cr	₹7 Cr	₹6 Cr	+20.5%
EPS	₹0.21	₹0.23	₹0.44	₹0.37	+20.8%
ROE	5.6%	5.7%	10.0%	7.7%	—
ROCE	8.0%	8.0%	13.1%	10.4%	—
Total Debt	₹2 Cr	₹2 Cr	₹8 Cr	₹6 Cr	+39.1%
Free Cash Flow	₹0 Cr	-₹3 Cr	-₹8 Cr	-₹2 Cr	—

🟢 Revenue has grown at 71.7% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA has grown at 14.9% a year over 3 years.

🔴 EBITDA Margin has fallen from 63.2% to 18.9% over 3 years (-44.3 pts).

🟢 PAT (Net Profit) has grown at 20.5% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EPS has grown at 20.8% a year over 3 years.

🟢 ROE has risen from 5.6% to 7.7% over 3 years (+2.1 pts).

🟢 ROCE has risen from 8.0% to 10.4% over 3 years (+2.4 pts).

🔴 Total Debt has grown at 39.1% a year over 3 years.

🔴 Free Cash Flow has turned negative, from ₹0 Cr to -₹2 Cr.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹101 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹23 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹2 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

-₹0 Cr

Capex

-₹2 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

0.0%

Insider Holding

57.3%

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
HINDUSTAN UNILEVER LTD.	42.5x	21.5%
ITC LTD	16.6x	27.4%
NESTLE INDIA LIMITED	59.8x	79.9%
BRITANNIA INDUSTRIES LTD	44.1x	51.0%

Recent News

6 general

Sodhani Academy of Fintech Enablers Ltd Share Price

Business Today, 16 Oct

Shanti Educational Initiatives Share Price In Focus | Stock Market Today Update

Samco, 03 Mar

SEIL Stock Price and Chart — NSE:SEIL

TradingView, 06 Jul

1268% returns in five years! Multibagger stock jumps 7% following stock market rally

Livemint, 22 Jun

SEBI imposes ₹5 lakh penalty on Shanti Educational Initiatives promoters

scanx.trade, 01 Jul

Shanti Educational Initiatives (NSEI:SEIL) - Stock Analysis

Simply Wall Street, 25 Apr

Watch Items

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

DalalBaazaar Thesis

MiddlingBusiness Quality · Growth · Profitability

WeakFinancial Health · Valuation · 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. 6 high-severity red flags sit above this conclusion and should be read first.

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