Universal Cables Limited

Industrials — Electrical Equipment & Parts · NSE

₹1,443.90−₹19.60 (−1.34%)

DalalBaazaar Score

52 / 100

🟡 Moderate

Verdict

NEUTRAL

Risk

Moderate

Driven by negative free cash flow, small-cap size, which brings sharper price swings.

In simple words: Reasonable but unspectacular business quality, 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, 7:01 pm

Understanding the Business

Company site ↗

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

What does this company do?

Universal Cables Limited engages in the manufacture and sale of electrical and other cables, wires, conductors, accessories for cables and conductors, capacitors and capacitor banks, harmonic filters, and static VAR generators under the UNISTAR brand in India and internationally.

IndustryElectrical Equipment & Parts

SectorIndustrials

Employees832

Annual revenue₹2,995 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹2,995 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹5 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹12 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 832 employees supports ₹3.60 Cr of revenue a year, the signature of a capital- or asset-led business.

Revenue / employee₹3.60 Cr

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are SIEMENS LTD, ABB INDIA LIMITED, HAVELLS INDIA 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 11.7% 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 ROE17.1%

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 +37% while net margin moved +1% 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+37%

Margin effect+1%

DalalBaazaar Score

52/ 100

Moderate

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✗ ROE of 8.6% is weak

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

51/ 100

Average

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

Valuation

59/ 100

Fair

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

25.5x

3Y Median

24.0x

40 monthly readings · mean 24.6x · range 12.9x–52.7x

Sector Median

88.8x

median of 3 sector peers

🟡Currently trading close to its 3y median of 24.0x — the market is paying about what it usually pays for this company.

🟢Against its sector it trades 71% below the peer median of 88.8x.

vs. its own history

Fair

24.0x median over 40 months · +7%

vs. sector peers

Cheap

88.8x median of 3 peers · -71%

vs. generic bands

Fair

15x–35x

EV/EBITDA

17.3x

PEG

2.25

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well1

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

4 items require attention · 3 high · 1 watch

🔴Debt has risen sharplyFinancial
Total debt is up 79% over 3 years, from ₹657 Cr to ₹1,177 Cr.
🔴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.
🔴Inventory building faster than salesFinancial
Inventory up 117% against revenue up 37% — stock may not be moving.
🟡Free cash flow is negativeFinancial
Free cash flow was -₹206 Cr in the latest year.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Cheaper than its peers
It trades 71% 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?

The debt load needs earnings to hold up
Debt is 3.3x EBITDA. At that level a downturn in earnings turns a manageable balance sheet into a refinancing problem, and lenders get paid before shareholders.
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 8% a year✓ 11.1% CAGR
Latest reported year was 57.5%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.
2EBITDA margin holds above 10%✓ 11.9%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
3Debt / EBITDA falls below 3x✗ 3.3x
Already stretched, so this is a reduction target rather than a level to hold. Around 3x is where lenders typically start attaching conditions.
4Free cash flow remains positive✗ -₹206 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
5Interest cover stays above 3x✓ 3.2x
How much operating profit can fall before interest stops being comfortably covered.

Investment Checklist

6 / 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

3 good · 7 neutral · 1 weak

Market Cap

₹5,010 Cr

Small Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

25.5x

Fair

Fairly valued against the generic band

P/B Ratio

2.65x

Fair

Moderate premium to the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹56.53

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

8.6%

Moderate

Moderate capital efficiency

ROCE

11.7%

Moderate

Moderate return on the capital in the business

Debt/Equity

0.62x

Moderate

Moderate leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

57.5%

Healthy

Healthy top-line growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

113.1%

Healthy

Profits growing at a healthy clip

Dividend Yield

0.31%

Modest

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

Free Cash Flow

-₹206 Cr

Cash burning

Spending more cash than the operations bring in

More Metrics

P/E (Forward)

97.2x

Flat

At or above the trailing multiple — no earnings uplift is being priced in

Operating Margin

8.4%

Average

Average margins

Net Margin

5.9%

Average

Average bottom-line conversion

Current Ratio

1.25

Comfortable

Healthy short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

0.65

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

72%

Mid-range

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

1508.4 / 1557.5

Bearish alignment (short < long)

Price vs SMA 200

Above

Long-term uptrend

RSI (14)

47.0

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹2,185 Cr	₹2,002 Cr	₹2,380 Cr	₹2,995 Cr	+11.1%
EBITDA	₹261 Cr	₹251 Cr	₹237 Cr	₹358 Cr	+11.1%
EBITDA Margin	11.9%	12.6%	10.0%	11.9%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹118 Cr	₹108 Cr	₹89 Cr	₹163 Cr	+11.3%
EPS	₹34.05	₹31.19	₹25.76	₹47.01	+11.4%
ROE	7.9%	6.1%	5.0%	8.6%	—
ROCE	11.7%	9.8%	8.4%	11.7%	—
Total Debt	₹657 Cr	₹771 Cr	₹849 Cr	₹1,177 Cr	+21.5%
Free Cash Flow	₹115 Cr	-₹28 Cr	₹13 Cr	-₹206 Cr	—

🟢 Revenue has grown at 11.1% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA has grown at 11.1% a year over 3 years.

🟡 EBITDA Margin has held roughly flat at 11.9% over 3 years.

🟢 PAT (Net Profit) has grown at 11.3% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EPS has grown at 11.4% a year over 3 years.

🟡 ROE has held roughly flat at 8.6% over 3 years.

🟡 ROCE has held roughly flat at 11.7% over 3 years.

🔴 Total Debt has grown at 21.5% a year over 3 years.

🔴 Free Cash Flow has turned negative, from ₹115 Cr to -₹206 Cr.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹4,323 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹2,432 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹5 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

₹63 Cr

Capex

-₹270 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

3.3%

Insider Holding

73.2%

Corporate Actions

Dividend Rate

₹4.5

Ex-Dividend Date

27 Jul 2026

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
SIEMENS LTD	88.8x	10.5%
ABB INDIA LIMITED	92.6x	19.1%
HAVELLS INDIA LIMITED	43.5x	17.1%

Recent News

2 positive1 mixed3 general

Universal Cables vs Nifty 50: 1Y Return +126.27% vs -11.35%

Univest, 13 Oct

Is Now The Time To Put Universal Cables (NSE:UNIVCABLES) On Your Watchlist?

Simply Wall Street, 07 Oct

Universal Cables surges after Q1 PAT soars 109% YoY

Business Standard, 10 AugResults

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

This smallcap wires and cable maker shares hit 20% upper circuit after doubling Q1FY27 profit; projects 25% revenue growth for FY27

Upstox, 10 Aug

Universal Cables Q1FY27 profit surges 91% on export volume growth

scanx.trade, 07 AugResults

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

Universal Cables Q4 revenue rises 25% to ₹840 Cr; net profit slips 19.6% YoY

Sahi, 25 MayResults

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

Watch Items

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

DalalBaazaar Thesis

StrongGrowth

MiddlingBusiness Quality · Financial Health · Valuation · Risk

WeakProfitability

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

2 of 5 tripwires tripped — Debt / EBITDA falls below 3x; Free cash flow remains positive · see Key things to watch ↑