Suven Life Sciences Limited

Healthcare — Drug Manufacturers - Specialty & Generic · NSE

₹304.85+₹4.60 (+1.53%)

DalalBaazaar Score

24 / 100

🔴 Weak

Verdict

HIGH RISK

Risk

Very High

Driven by high debt relative to equity, negative free cash flow, the company is currently loss-making.

In simple words: The company is currently losing money, though profits are falling even as sales grow. Debt is the main factor to watch.

Decision support, not a buy or sell call.

As of 18 Oct 2026, 7:02 pm

Understanding the Business

Company site ↗

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

What does this company do?

Suven Life Sciences Limited, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, develops novel therapeutics for central nervous system disorders and unmet needs in mental health in India, the United States, Europe, and internationally.

IndustryDrug Manufacturers - Specialty & Generic

SectorHealthcare

Employees142

Annual revenue₹7 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹7 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹-3884 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹-3937 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 142 employees supports ₹5.0 lakh of revenue a year, the signature of a people-led business.

Revenue / employee₹5.0 lakh

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are SUN PHARMACEUTICAL IND L, DR. REDDY S LABORATORIES, CIPLA LTD, DIVI S LABORATORIES 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 -45.6% 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 ROE14.5%

What has been driving growth?

Profit has moved mainly because margins changed, not because the business sold much more. Over 3 years revenue moved -47% while net margin moved +345% 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-47%

Margin effect+345%

DalalBaazaar Score

24/ 100

Weak

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✗ Revenue has contracted at 19.3% a year
✗ Profit fell 71.9% in the latest year

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

24/ 100

Weak

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

Valuation

21/ 100

Expensive

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

Weak on business quality and not cheap enough to compensate.

vs. its own history

Not enough price and earnings history

vs. sector peers

Not enough peers with a usable P/E

vs. generic bands

N/A

No P/E — the company is lossmaking

EV/EBITDA

—

PEG

—

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well0

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

🔴 What Needs Attention2

Return on equity is falling
ROE has dropped from -31.5% to -46.7% — each rupee of shareholder capital earns less than it did.
Return on capital is falling
ROCE has declined from -31.2% to -45.6% — often a sign of competition or overexpansion.

Red Flags

8 items require attention · 7 high · 1 watch

🔴Debt has risen sharplyFinancial
Total debt is up 940% over 3 years, from ₹2 Cr to ₹17 Cr.
🔴High leverageFinancial
Debt/Equity of 2.82x — earnings must service borrowings before shareholders see anything.
🔴Thin interest coverageFinancial
Operating profit covers interest only -1750.2x — little room if earnings dip.
🔴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.
🔴The company is lossmakingFinancial
Net profit of -₹276 Cr in the latest reported year.
🔴Significant margin compressionFinancial
EBITDA margin has fallen 3055.2 points, from -881.9% to -3937.1%.
🔴Receivables growing faster than salesFinancial
Receivables up 87% against revenue up -47% — sales are being booked faster than they are collected.
🟡Shareholders have been dilutedOwnership
Shares outstanding are up 21% over 3 years — each existing share owns a smaller slice of the company.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

No clear supporting case emerges from the available numbers.

🔴 Bear CaseWhat could go wrong?

Margins are being competed away
EBITDA margin has fallen from -881.9% to -3937.1%. If the trend continues, profit falls even on flat sales — and margin decline rarely reverses quickly.
Leverage amplifies any setback
Debt/Equity of 2.82x. Interest is payable whether or not the business has a good year.
Sales are being booked faster than collected
Receivables are up 87% against revenue up -47%. If customers keep taking longer to pay, reported profit will not turn into cash — and write-offs follow if some never do.
Returns on shareholder capital are falling
ROE has dropped from -31.5% to -46.7%. 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
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.

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

1EBITDA margin holds above -3939%✓ -3937.1%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
2Free cash flow remains positive✗ -₹306 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
3Interest cover stays above 3x✗ -1750.2x
How much operating profit can fall before interest stops being comfortably covered.
4ROCE stays above 8%✗ -45.6%
Falling returns on capital are usually competition arriving, and show up here before they reach the margin.

Investment Checklist

4 / 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

1 good · 2 neutral · 8 weak

Market Cap

₹8,614 Cr

Small Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

Not meaningful

Loss-making

Earnings are negative, so a P/E multiple can't be read here

P/B Ratio

13.59x

Rich

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

EPS (TTM)

₹-14.89

Loss-making

Negative earnings per share — the business is losing money

ROE

-46.7%

Weak

Weak capital efficiency

ROCE

-45.6%

Weak

Low return on total capital employed

Debt/Equity

2.82x

High

High leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

91.0%

Healthy

Healthy top-line growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

-71.9%

Falling

Profits are shrinking

Dividend Yield

None

No dividend yield reported — usually means no payout, but verify if one was recently initiated

Free Cash Flow

-₹306 Cr

Cash burning

Spending more cash than the operations bring in

More Metrics

P/E (Forward)

15.8x

Operating Margin

-3776.4%

Weak

Thin margins leave little room for error

Net Margin

0.0%

Weak

Very little revenue reaches the bottom line

Current Ratio

29.15

Comfortable

Healthy short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

0.89

Market-like

Moves roughly in line with the market

52W Range Position

65%

Mid-range

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

312.7 / 337.9

Bearish alignment (short < long)

Price vs SMA 200

Above

Long-term uptrend

RSI (14)

32.5

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹14 Cr	₹12 Cr	₹7 Cr	₹7 Cr	-19.3%
EBITDA	-₹119 Cr	-₹111 Cr	-₹160 Cr	-₹280 Cr	—
EBITDA Margin	-881.9%	-953.0%	-2401.7%	-3937.1%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	-₹118 Cr	-₹105 Cr	-₹161 Cr	-₹276 Cr	—
EPS	₹-6.63	₹-4.82	₹-7.37	₹-12.13	—
ROE	-31.5%	-38.9%	-146.1%	-46.7%	—
ROCE	-31.2%	-39.0%	-143.9%	-45.6%	—
Total Debt	₹2 Cr	₹1 Cr	—	₹17 Cr	+118.3%
Free Cash Flow	-₹119 Cr	-₹83 Cr	-₹191 Cr	-₹306 Cr	—

🔴 Revenue has shrunk at 19.3% a year over 3 years.

🔴 EBITDA Margin has fallen from -881.9% to -3937.1% over 3 years (-3055.2 pts).

🔴 ROE has fallen from -31.5% to -46.7% over 3 years (-15.2 pts).

🔴 ROCE has fallen from -31.2% to -45.6% over 3 years (-14.4 pts).

🔴 Total Debt has grown at 118.3% a year over 3 years.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹624 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹33 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹8 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

-₹301 Cr

Capex

-₹5 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

1.3%

Insider Holding

66.6%

Corporate Actions

Ex-Dividend Date

14 Feb 2019

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
SUN PHARMACEUTICAL IND L	34.9x	14.5%
DR. REDDY S LABORATORIES	31.0x	8.8%
CIPLA LTD	31.8x	9.8%
DIVI S LABORATORIES LTD	83.0x	17.5%

Recent News

2 mixed4 general

Here's Why We're Not Too Worried About Suven Life Sciences' (NSE:SUVEN) Cash Burn Situation

Simply Wall Street, 19 May

Market Trading Guide: Suven Life Sciences among 2 stock recommendations for Friday

The Economic Times, 02 Jul

Suven Life Sciences Q1FY27 net loss widens to ₹1,276 crore

scanx.trade, 06 Aug

Suven Life Plans Neuroscience Breakthrough by 2026-27 and Singapore Expansion

Sahi, 20 JulCapacity

🟡Mixed / dependsCapacity additions can raise revenue over two to three years, but the capital spend usually pressures free cash flow first. Worth checking whether the capex is funded from operations or from borrowing.

Suven Life Sciences Shares Decline Over 5% As Q1 Net Loss Widens To Rs 128 Crore

NDTV Profit, 06 AugPrice 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.

Suven Life Sci Standalone June 2026 Net Sales at Rs 3.57 crore, up 91.02% Y-o-Y

Moneycontrol.com, 07 Aug

Watch Items

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

DalalBaazaar Thesis

WeakBusiness Quality · Financial Health · Growth · Profitability · Valuation · Risk

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

3 of 4 tripwires tripped — Free cash flow remains positive; Interest cover stays above 3x; ROCE stays above 8% · see Key things to watch ↑