Seshasayee Paper and Boards Limited

Basic Materials — Paper & Paper Products · NSE

₹218.65+₹2.34 (+1.08%)

DalalBaazaar Score

47 / 100

🟡 Moderate

Verdict

NEUTRAL

Risk

Moderate

Driven by 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. 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, 8:28 pm

Understanding the Business

Company site ↗

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

What does this company do?

Seshasayee Paper and Boards Limited engages in the manufacture and sale of printing and writing paper in India and internationally. The company owns and operates integrated pulp, paper, and paper board mills.

IndustryPaper & Paper Products

SectorBasic Materials

Employees990

Annual revenue₹1,691 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹1,691 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹5 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹8 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 990 employees supports ₹1.71 Cr of revenue a year, the signature of a capital- or asset-led business.

Revenue / employee₹1.71 Cr

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are TATA STEEL LIMITED, JSW STEEL LIMITED, ULTRATECH CEMENT LIMITED, ASIAN PAINTS 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 4.4% 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 ROE22.3%

What has been driving growth?

Profit has moved mainly because margins changed, not because the business sold much more. Over 3 years revenue moved -18% while net margin moved -75% 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-18%

Margin effect-75%

DalalBaazaar Score

47/ 100

Moderate

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✗ Revenue has contracted at 6.3% a year
✗ Profit has declined at 40.7% a year

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

42/ 100

Weak

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

Valuation

64/ 100

Fair

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

Weak on business quality and not cheap enough to compensate.

Historical Valuation

Current P/E

13.3x

3Y Median

6.8x

40 monthly readings · mean 9.3x · range 4.5x–17.6x

Sector Median

28.7x

median of 4 sector peers

⚠️Current valuation is approximately 95% above its 3y median of 6.8x. Paying more than usual needs a reason — faster growth, a better balance sheet, or a re-rating you believe in.

🟢Against its sector it trades 54% below the peer median of 28.7x.

vs. its own history

Expensive

6.8x median over 40 months · +95%

vs. sector peers

Cheap

28.7x median of 4 peers · -54%

vs. generic bands

Cheap

Below 15x

EV/EBITDA

9.7x

PEG

—

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well1

Consistently profitable
Profitable in every one of the last 4 reported years.

🔴 What Needs Attention2

Return on equity is falling
ROE has dropped from 24.2% to 4.0% — each rupee of shareholder capital earns less than it did.
Return on capital is falling
ROCE has declined from 28.8% to 4.4% — often a sign of competition or overexpansion.

Red Flags

4 items require attention · 3 high · 1 watch

🔴Significant margin compressionFinancial
EBITDA margin has fallen 19.1 points, from 27.4% to 8.4%.
🔴Receivables growing faster than salesFinancial
Receivables up 99% against revenue up -18% — sales are being booked faster than they are collected.
🔴Inventory building faster than salesFinancial
Inventory up 50% against revenue up -18% — stock may not be moving.
🟡Profit is decliningFinancial
Net profit is down 79% over 3 years.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Cheaper than its peers
It trades 54% 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 27.4% to 8.4%. If the trend continues, profit falls even on flat sales — and margin decline rarely reverses quickly.
Sales are being booked faster than collected
Receivables are up 99% against revenue up -18%. If customers keep taking longer to pay, reported profit will not turn into cash — and write-offs follow if some never do.
The price already assumes success
The stock trades 95% above its own median multiple. At this level the business has to deliver just to stand still, and a stumble is repriced twice — lower earnings on a lower multiple.
Returns on shareholder capital are falling
ROE has dropped from 24.2% to 4.0%. 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.
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

1EBITDA margin holds above 6%✓ 8.4%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
2Free cash flow remains positive✓ ₹36 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
3ROCE stays above 8%✗ 4.4%
Falling returns on capital are usually competition arriving, and show up here before they reach the margin.
4Valuation vs its own median of 6.8x✗ 13.3x today
A re-rating above its own history needs a reason; without one it is just a higher price.

Investment Checklist

7 / 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
✓ 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

6 good · 3 neutral · 2 weak

Market Cap

₹1,379 Cr

Micro Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

13.3x

Cheap

Cheap against the generic band

P/B Ratio

0.64x

Reasonable

Reasonable against the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹16.44

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

4.0%

Weak

Weak capital efficiency

ROCE

4.4%

Weak

Low return on total capital employed

Debt/Equity

Not available

No data

Source didn't return this field

Revenue Growth (YoY)

27.7%

Healthy

Healthy top-line growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

107.0%

Healthy

Profits growing at a healthy clip

Dividend Yield

0.91%

Modest

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

Free Cash Flow

₹36 Cr

Cash generative

Generates cash even after funding its capex

More Metrics

Operating Margin

6.6%

Average

Average margins

Net Margin

5.4%

Average

Average bottom-line conversion

Current Ratio

2.41

Comfortable

Healthy short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

-0.13

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

10%

Near low

Near its 52-week low

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

234.8 / 234.5

Bullish alignment (short > long)

Price vs SMA 200

Below

Long-term downtrend

RSI (14)

11.4

Oversold zone

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹2,052 Cr	₹1,780 Cr	₹1,731 Cr	₹1,691 Cr	-6.3%
EBITDA	₹563 Cr	₹390 Cr	₹177 Cr	₹141 Cr	-36.9%
EBITDA Margin	27.4%	21.9%	10.3%	8.4%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹396 Cr	₹271 Cr	₹109 Cr	₹83 Cr	-40.7%
EPS	₹65.72	₹44.96	₹18.13	₹13.7	-40.7%
ROE	24.2%	14.2%	5.5%	4.0%	—
ROCE	28.8%	16.7%	6.1%	4.4%	—
Total Debt	—	₹21 Cr	₹82 Cr	—	—
Free Cash Flow	₹297 Cr	₹162 Cr	-₹124 Cr	₹36 Cr	-50.3%

🔴 Revenue has shrunk at 6.3% a year over 3 years.

🔴 EBITDA has shrunk at 36.9% a year over 3 years.

🔴 EBITDA Margin has fallen from 27.4% to 8.4% over 3 years (-19.1 pts).

🔴 PAT (Net Profit) has shrunk at 40.7% a year over 3 years.

🔴 EPS has shrunk at 40.7% a year over 3 years.

🔴 ROE has fallen from 24.2% to 4.0% over 3 years (-20.2 pts).

🔴 ROCE has fallen from 28.8% to 4.4% over 3 years (-24.5 pts).

🔴 Free Cash Flow has shrunk at 50.3% a year over 3 years.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹2,502 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹460 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹8 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

₹92 Cr

Capex

-₹56 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

8.0%

Insider Holding

69.2%

Corporate Actions

Dividend Rate

₹2

Ex-Dividend Date

10 Jun 2026

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
TATA STEEL LIMITED	19.8x	10.8%
JSW STEEL LIMITED	12.0x	24.7%
ULTRATECH CEMENT LIMITED	37.6x	11.1%
ASIAN PAINTS LIMITED	46.9x	22.3%

Recent News

1 positive2 mixed3 general

Seshasayee Paper and Boards vs Nifty 50 Return Comparison

Univest, 12 Oct

Seshasayee Paper Q1 Net Profit Reaches 336M Rupees, Revenue Touches 4.92B Rupees

Sahi, 25 JulResults

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

Seshasayee Paper Q1FY27 profit surges 97% YoY on revenue growth

scanx.trade, 25 JulResults

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

Seshasayee Paper and Boards Limited's (NSE:SESHAPAPER) Earnings Are Not Doing Enough For Some Investors

Simply Wall Street, 11 FebResults

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

Seshasayee Paper and Boards Ltd. Shareholding Pattern – Promoters, FIIs & DIIs

Value Research, 31 Aug

Seshasayee Paper and Boards Share Price Forecast to 2030

Univest, 27 Jul

Watch Items

Cross-check against the company's latest quarterly filing / investor presentation before acting.
1 metric couldn't be retrieved for this stock — this is more common for smaller or thinly-covered listings.
RSI is in oversold territory — could mean either a bargain or a stock still falling for good reason. Check the 'why' before assuming reversal.

DalalBaazaar Thesis

StrongFinancial Health · Valuation

MiddlingRisk

WeakBusiness Quality · Growth · Profitability

Points for each in the Score ↑

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

2 of 4 tripwires tripped — ROCE stays above 8%; Valuation vs its own median of 6.8x · see Key things to watch ↑