Signpost India Limited

Communication Services — Advertising Agencies · NSE

₹250.80−₹10.80 (−4.13%)

DalalBaazaar Score

70 / 100

🟢 Good

Verdict

REASONABLE

Risk

Moderate

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

In simple words: Strong business and financial position, 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, 6:58 pm

Understanding the Business

Company site ↗

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

What does this company do?

Signpost India Limited, together with its subsidiaries, provides advertising services in India.

IndustryAdvertising Agencies

SectorCommunication Services

Employees485

Annual revenue₹576 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹576 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹12 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹26 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 485 employees supports ₹1.19 Cr of revenue a year, the signature of a capital- or asset-led business.

Revenue / employee₹1.19 Cr

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are BHARTI AIRTEL LIMITED, VODAFONE IDEA 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?The numbers suggest a real one

ROCE has stayed above 15% in every year available and stands at 29.3%. Returns that high normally get competed away; when they persist, something is protecting them, and its ROE of 24.4% against a peer median of 20.2% is consistent with that. What that something is — brand, scale, switching costs, regulation — the accounts cannot tell you.

Peer median ROE20.2%

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 +71% while net margin moved +16% 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+71%

Margin effect+16%

DalalBaazaar Score

70/ 100

Good

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✓ Beta of 0.72 — historically steadier than the index
✗ Micro Cap: thinner liquidity and sharper drawdowns are normal
✗ Negative free cash flow means dependence on external funding

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

73/ 100

Good

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

Valuation

71/ 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

17.6x

3Y Median

37.4x

34 monthly readings · mean 35.5x · range 19.1x–58.5x

Sector Median

21.7x

median of 2 sector peers

🟢Current valuation is approximately 53% below its 3y median of 37.4x. 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 19% below the peer median of 21.7x.

vs. its own history

Cheap

37.4x median over 34 months · -53%

vs. sector peers

Fair

21.7x median of 2 peers · -19%

vs. generic bands

Fair

15x–35x

EV/EBITDA

10.0x

PEG

0.69

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well3

Margins are improving
EBITDA margin is up from 23.9% to 26.5% over 3 years.
High return on capital employed
ROCE of 29.3% is the mark of a business that converts capital into profit efficiently.
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

3 items require attention · 3 high

🔴Debt has risen sharplyFinancial
Total debt is up 108% over 3 years, from ₹98 Cr to ₹203 Cr.
🔴Free cash flow negative for 4 yearsFinancial
The business has not covered its capital spending from operations for several years running, which has to be funded externally.
🔴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.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Capital compounds at a high rate
ROCE of 29.3% 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 23.9% to 26.5%. 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 53% 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.
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?

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
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 15% a year✓ 19.6% CAGR
Latest reported year was 10.6%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.
2EBITDA margin holds above 24%✓ 26.5%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
3Free cash flow remains positive✗ -₹34 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
4Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x✓ 1.3x
The ratio lenders write covenants against; it survives a small or negative equity base, unlike Debt/Equity.
5ROCE stays above 26%✓ 29.3%
Falling returns on capital are usually competition arriving, and show up here before they reach the margin.

Investment Checklist

9 / 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

5 good · 5 neutral · 1 weak

Market Cap

₹1,341 Cr

Micro Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

17.6x

Fair

Fairly valued against the generic band

P/B Ratio

4.65x

Fair

Moderate premium to the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹14.27

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

24.4%

Strong

Strong capital efficiency

ROCE

29.3%

Strong

Earns comfortably above its likely cost of capital

Debt/Equity

0.70x

Moderate

Moderate leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

10.6%

Healthy

Healthy top-line growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

22.0%

Healthy

Profits growing at a healthy clip

Dividend Yield

0.20%

Modest

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

Free Cash Flow

-₹34 Cr

Cash burning

Spending more cash than the operations bring in

More Metrics

Operating Margin

18.9%

Good

Healthy core-business profitability

Net Margin

12.5%

Good

Strong bottom-line conversion

Current Ratio

1.26

Comfortable

Healthy short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

0.72

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

41%

Mid-range

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

262.9 / 263.1

Bearish alignment (short < long)

Price vs SMA 200

Below

Long-term downtrend

RSI (14)

35.5

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹337 Cr	₹387 Cr	₹453 Cr	₹576 Cr	+19.6%
EBITDA	₹81 Cr	₹90 Cr	₹95 Cr	₹152 Cr	+23.6%
EBITDA Margin	23.9%	23.1%	20.9%	26.5%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹35 Cr	₹44 Cr	₹34 Cr	₹70 Cr	+25.6%
EPS	₹6.62	₹8.25	₹6.34	₹13.14	+25.7%
ROE	24.0%	23.3%	15.4%	24.4%	—
ROCE	31.1%	27.6%	18.0%	29.3%	—
Total Debt	₹98 Cr	₹154 Cr	₹173 Cr	₹203 Cr	+27.6%
Free Cash Flow	-₹28 Cr	-₹45 Cr	-₹32 Cr	-₹34 Cr	—

🟢 Revenue has grown at 19.6% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA has grown at 23.6% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA Margin has risen from 23.9% to 26.5% over 3 years (+2.5 pts).

🟢 PAT (Net Profit) has grown at 25.6% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EPS has grown at 25.7% a year over 3 years.

🟡 ROE has held roughly flat at 24.4% over 3 years.

🔴 ROCE has fallen from 31.1% to 29.3% over 3 years (-1.7 pts).

🔴 Total Debt has grown at 27.6% a year over 3 years.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹688 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹397 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹20 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

₹22 Cr

Capex

-₹56 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

0.0%

Insider Holding

74.2%

Corporate Actions

Dividend Rate

₹0.5

Ex-Dividend Date

11 Sept 2026

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
BHARTI AIRTEL LIMITED	39.8x	20.2%
VODAFONE IDEA LIMITED	3.6x	—

Recent News

1 mixed5 general

Signpost India (SIGNPOST.NS) Slips 3% to ₹252.5 as Stock Tests Key Support Zone - FRAMA Signal

https://www.siam.in/, 12 Oct

Signpost India vs Nifty 50: 1Y Return +2.38% vs -10.93%

Univest, 12 Oct

With EPS Growth And More, Signpost India (NSE:SIGNPOST) Makes An Interesting Case

Simply Wall Street, 02 Jun

Signpost India Ltd Shareholding Pattern – Promoters, FIIs & DIIs

Value Research, 30 Aug

Volume Gainers, June 30, 2026: Divgi TorqTransfer, Signpost Lead

HDFC Sky, 30 Jun

Signpost India net up 20 times in Q4 on strong demand

BusinessLine, 31 MayResults

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

Watch Items

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

DalalBaazaar Thesis

StrongBusiness Quality · Growth · Profitability · Valuation

MiddlingFinancial Health

WeakRisk

Points for each in the Score ↑

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.

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