Walchand PeopleFirst Limited

Consumer Defensive — Education & Training Services · BSE

₹120.70−₹8.30 (−6.43%)

DalalBaazaar Score

65 / 100

🟢 Good

Verdict

REASONABLE

Risk

Moderate

Driven by micro-cap size, which brings thin liquidity.

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

Understanding the Business

Company site ↗

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

What does this company do?

Walchand PeopleFirst Limited provides consulting and training services to individuals and employees of corporates in India.

IndustryEducation & Training Services

SectorConsumer Defensive

Employees59

Annual revenue₹36 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹36 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹10 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹14 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 59 employees supports ₹60.9 lakh of revenue a year, the signature of a people-led business.

Revenue / employee₹60.9 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 14.6% 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 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 +81% while net margin moved -45% 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+81%

Margin effect-45%

DalalBaazaar Score

65/ 100

Good

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✓ Revenue CAGR of 21.9% — compounding well above nominal GDP
✗ Profit has declined at 0.2% a year
✗ Profit is compounding slower than revenue — margins are being squeezed as the business grows

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

61/ 100

Average

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

Valuation

88/ 100

Cheap

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

7.8x

3Y Median

16.0x

40 monthly readings · mean 16.5x · range 10.0x–24.2x

Sector Median

43.3x

median of 4 sector peers

🟢Current valuation is approximately 51% below its 3y median of 16.0x. 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 82% below the peer median of 43.3x.

vs. its own history

Cheap

16.0x median over 40 months · -51%

vs. sector peers

Cheap

43.3x median of 4 peers · -82%

vs. generic bands

Cheap

Below 15x

EV/EBITDA

6.3x

PEG

—

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well3

Debt is being paid down
Total debt is down 67% over 3 years.
Cash flow has turned positive
Free cash flow moved from negative to positive over 3 years.
Consistently profitable
Profitable in every one of the last 4 reported years.

🔴 What Needs Attention2

Return on equity is falling
ROE has dropped from 15.4% to 11.3% — each rupee of shareholder capital earns less than it did.
Return on capital is falling
ROCE has declined from 17.6% to 14.6% — often a sign of competition or overexpansion.

Red Flags

1 item require attention · 1 high

🔴Significant margin compressionFinancial
EBITDA margin has fallen 10.4 points, from 24.5% to 14.1%.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Deleveraging frees up earnings
Debt is down 67% over 3 years. Every rupee of interest not paid drops to the bottom line, so profit can grow even if revenue does not.
Priced below its own history
The stock trades 51% 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.
Cheaper than its peers
It trades 82% 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 24.5% to 14.1%. If the trend continues, profit falls even on flat sales — and margin decline rarely reverses quickly.
Returns on shareholder capital are falling
ROE has dropped from 15.4% to 11.3%. 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

1Revenue growth stays above 16% a year✓ 21.9% CAGR
Latest reported year was 25.4%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.
2EBITDA margin holds above 12%✓ 14.1%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
3Free cash flow remains positive✓ ₹4 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
4Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x✓ 0.0x
The ratio lenders write covenants against; it survives a small or negative equity base, unlike Debt/Equity.
5ROCE stays above 12%✓ 14.6%
Falling returns on capital are usually competition arriving, and show up here before they reach the margin.

Investment Checklist

8 / 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

7 good · 4 neutral · 0 weak

Market Cap

₹35 Cr

Micro Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

7.8x

Cheap

Cheap against the generic band

P/B Ratio

1.15x

Reasonable

Reasonable against the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹15.51

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

11.3%

Moderate

Moderate capital efficiency

ROCE

14.6%

Moderate

Moderate return on the capital in the business

Debt/Equity

0.50x

Low

Conservative leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

25.4%

Healthy

Healthy top-line growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

104.4%

Healthy

Profits growing at a healthy clip

Dividend Yield

0.83%

Modest

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

Free Cash Flow

₹4 Cr

Cash generative

Generates cash even after funding its capex

More Metrics

Operating Margin

11.8%

Average

Average margins

Net Margin

11.7%

Good

Strong bottom-line conversion

Current Ratio

2.69

Comfortable

Healthy short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

0.45

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

51%

Mid-range

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

126.3 / 135.0

Bearish alignment (short < long)

Price vs SMA 200

Below

Long-term downtrend

RSI (14)

44.9

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹20 Cr	₹26 Cr	₹30 Cr	₹36 Cr	+21.9%
EBITDA	₹5 Cr	₹4 Cr	₹2 Cr	₹5 Cr	+1.3%
EBITDA Margin	24.5%	15.9%	6.9%	14.1%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹3 Cr	₹3 Cr	₹2 Cr	₹3 Cr	-0.2%
EPS	₹12.04	₹11.76	₹6.21	₹11.95	-0.2%
ROE	15.4%	13.2%	6.6%	11.3%	—
ROCE	17.6%	17.2%	7.8%	14.6%	—
Total Debt	₹0 Cr	₹0 Cr	₹0 Cr	₹0 Cr	-30.8%
Free Cash Flow	-₹0 Cr	-₹0 Cr	₹0 Cr	₹4 Cr	—

🟢 Revenue has grown at 21.9% a year over 3 years.

🟡 EBITDA has been broadly flat over 3 years (1.3% a year).

🔴 EBITDA Margin has fallen from 24.5% to 14.1% over 3 years (-10.4 pts).

🟡 PAT (Net Profit) has been broadly flat over 3 years (-0.2% a year).

🟡 EPS has been broadly flat over 3 years (-0.2% a year).

🔴 ROE has fallen from 15.4% to 11.3% over 3 years (-4.1 pts).

🔴 ROCE has fallen from 17.6% to 14.6% over 3 years (-3.0 pts).

🟢 Total Debt has shrunk at 30.8% a year over 3 years.

🟢 Free Cash Flow has turned positive, from -₹0 Cr to ₹4 Cr.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹39 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹9 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹3 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

₹4 Cr

Capex

-₹1 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

0.0%

Insider Holding

70.8%

Corporate Actions

Dividend Rate

₹1

Ex-Dividend Date

17 Jul 2026

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

2 mixed4 general

Walchand Peoplefirst Ltd. Peer Comparison – Compare with Others

Value Research, 30 Aug

Walchand PeopleFirst Q1 Results FY27: PAT Rs 2 Cr, Revenue Rs 9 Cr

Univest, 31 JulResults

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

Walchand People Standalone June 2026 Net Sales at Rs 9.51 crore, up 25.42% Y-o-Y

Moneycontrol.com, 07 Aug

XLRI and Dale Carnegie India Join Hands to Shape Future-Ready Leaders with World-Class Behavioural Skills

Business Standard, 13 Jul

Q1 results 2026: Swiggy to IRFC among companies to declare Q1 results today; full list here

Livemint, 30 JulResults

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

ICON Stock Price and Chart — BSE:ICON

TradingView, 02 Jul

Watch Items

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

DalalBaazaar Thesis

StrongFinancial Health · Valuation

MiddlingBusiness Quality · Growth · Profitability · 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. 1 high-severity red flag sits above this conclusion and should be read first.

All 5 tripwires holding · see Key things to watch ↑