Zee Learn Limited

Consumer Defensive — Education & Training Services · NSE

₹5.99+₹0.08 (+1.35%)

DalalBaazaar Score

66 / 100

🟢 Good

Verdict

REASONABLE

Risk

High

Driven by high debt relative to equity, micro-cap size, which brings thin liquidity.

In simple words: Strong business and financial position, but sales are shrinking. 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 Zee Learn Limited — what it does, how it earns, and who it competes with, before any of the numbers below.

What does this company do?

Zee Learn Limited, together with its subsidiaries, provides learning solutions and training in India. It operates through Educational; Construction and Leasing for Education; and Training Manpower and Related Activities segments.

IndustryEducation & Training Services

SectorConsumer Defensive

Employees486

Annual revenue₹439 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹439 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹9 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹28 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 486 employees supports ₹90.3 lakh of revenue a year, the signature of a people-led business.

Revenue / employee₹90.3 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?Some evidence

ROCE of 15.4% is above what capital typically costs, which suggests some pricing power, though not yet the sustained, wide gap that marks a durable advantage.

Peer median ROE51.0%

What has been driving growth?

Profit has moved mainly because margins changed, not because the business sold much more. Over 3 years revenue moved +35% while net margin moved -106% 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+35%

Margin effect-106%

DalalBaazaar Score

66/ 100

Good

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

• Beta of 1.01 — moves roughly with the market
✗ Micro Cap: thinner liquidity and sharper drawdowns are normal
✗ High leverage magnifies any downturn in earnings
✗ Profits have swung sharply from year to year — earnings are hard to forecast

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

66/ 100

Good

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 good business currently available at an undemanding price — the combination this framework is built to look for.

Historical Valuation

Current P/E

4.2x

2Y Median

5.6x

28 monthly readings · mean 9.6x · range 1.1x–24.5x

Sector Median

43.3x

median of 4 sector peers

🟢Current valuation is approximately 25% below its 2y median of 5.6x. 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 90% below the peer median of 43.3x.

vs. its own history

Cheap

5.6x median over 28 months · -25%

vs. sector peers

Cheap

43.3x median of 4 peers · -90%

vs. generic bands

Cheap

Below 15x

EV/EBITDA

4.2x

PEG

—

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well5

Margins are improving
EBITDA margin is up from 18.8% to 27.9% over 3 years.
Debt is being paid down
Total debt is down 18% over 3 years.
Cash generation is improving
Free cash flow is up 151% over 3 years.
Return on equity is rising
ROE has improved from -2304.9% to 16.4%.
Return on capital is rising
ROCE has improved from -68.9% to 15.4%.

🔴 What Needs Attention0

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

Red Flags

2 items require attention · 1 high · 1 watch

🔴High leverageFinancial
Debt/Equity of 1.61x — earnings must service borrowings before shareholders see anything.
🟡Receivables growing faster than salesFinancial
Receivables up 79% against revenue up 35% — sales are being booked faster than they are collected.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Margin expansion has further to run
EBITDA margin has risen from 18.8% to 27.9%. If that holds, profit compounds faster than sales and today's multiple looks cheaper in hindsight than it does now.
Deleveraging frees up earnings
Debt is down 18% 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 25% 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 90% below the sector median. Either the market sees a problem the numbers do not show, or the discount closes.

🔴 Bear CaseWhat could go wrong?

The debt load needs earnings to hold up
Debt is 3.1x EBITDA. At that level a downturn in earnings turns a manageable balance sheet into a refinancing problem, and lenders get paid before shareholders.
Sales are being booked faster than collected
Receivables are up 79% against revenue up 35%. If customers keep taking longer to pay, reported profit will not turn into cash — and write-offs follow if some never do.
Earnings are hard to forecast
Profit has swung sharply from year to year, so any single year — good or bad — is a weak guide to the next. Cyclical earnings deserve lower multiples for that reason.
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 8% a year✓ 10.6% CAGR
Latest reported year was -13.9%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.
2EBITDA margin holds above 26%✓ 27.9%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
3Debt / EBITDA falls below 3x✗ 3.1x
Already stretched, so this is a reduction target rather than a level to hold. Around 3x is where lenders typically start attaching conditions.
4Interest cover stays above 3x✗ 2.8x
How much operating profit can fall before interest stops being comfortably covered.
5Free cash flow remains positive✓ ₹95 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.

Investment Checklist

7 / 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 · 2 neutral · 2 weak

Market Cap

₹197 Cr

Micro Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

4.2x

Cheap

Cheap against the generic band

P/B Ratio

0.83x

Reasonable

Reasonable against the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹1.44

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

16.4%

Strong

Strong capital efficiency

ROCE

15.4%

Strong

Earns comfortably above its likely cost of capital

Debt/Equity

1.61x

High

High leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

-13.9%

Shrinking

Sales are contracting

Profit Growth (YoY)

333.3%

Healthy

Profits growing at a healthy clip

Dividend Yield

None

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

Free Cash Flow

₹95 Cr

Cash generative

Generates cash even after funding its capex

More Metrics

Operating Margin

22.5%

Good

Healthy core-business profitability

Net Margin

9.9%

Average

Average bottom-line conversion

Current Ratio

1.01

Adequate

Adequate, but no real cushion

Beta (vs Nifty)

1.01

Market-like

Moves roughly in line with the market

52W Range Position

31%

Mid-range

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

6.4 / 7.1

Bearish alignment (short < long)

Price vs SMA 200

Below

Long-term downtrend

RSI (14)

27.2

Oversold zone

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹324 Cr	₹356 Cr	₹372 Cr	₹439 Cr	+10.6%
EBITDA	₹61 Cr	₹117 Cr	₹124 Cr	₹122 Cr	+26.2%
EBITDA Margin	18.8%	33.0%	33.3%	27.9%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	-₹443 Cr	₹163 Cr	₹13 Cr	₹39 Cr	—
EPS	₹-13.6	₹4.99	₹0.39	₹1.17	—
ROE	-2304.9%	89.1%	6.5%	16.4%	—
ROCE	-68.9%	37.6%	11.3%	15.4%	—
Total Debt	₹463 Cr	₹360 Cr	₹399 Cr	₹379 Cr	-6.4%
Free Cash Flow	₹38 Cr	₹58 Cr	₹72 Cr	₹95 Cr	+35.9%

🟢 Revenue has grown at 10.6% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA has grown at 26.2% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA Margin has risen from 18.8% to 27.9% over 3 years (+9.1 pts).

🟢 PAT (Net Profit) has turned positive, from -₹443 Cr to ₹39 Cr.

🟢 EPS has turned positive, from ₹-13.6 to ₹1.17.

🟢 ROE has risen from -2304.9% to 16.4% over 3 years (+2321.3 pts).

🟢 ROCE has risen from -68.9% to 15.4% over 3 years (+84.3 pts).

🟢 Total Debt has shrunk at 6.4% a year over 3 years.

🟢 Free Cash Flow has grown at 35.9% a year over 3 years.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹1,593 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹1,358 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹57 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

₹108 Cr

Capex

-₹13 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

0.0%

Insider Holding

36.7%

Corporate Actions

Ex-Dividend Date

17 Sept 2019

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

1 positive2 mixed3 general

Zee Learn FY26 net profit rises to ₹3,852.55 lakh

scanx.trade, 14 OctResults

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

Zee Learn Share Price Target 2027, 2028 and 2030: Long Term Analyst Forecast

Univest, 11 AugAnalyst view

🟡Mixed / dependsBroker commentary — an opinion about the price rather than new information about the business.

There May Be Underlying Issues With The Quality Of Zee Learn's (NSE:ZEELEARN) Earnings

Simply Wall Street, 01 JunResults

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

Zee Learn Ltd. Key Financial Ratios – Valuation, Profitability & More

Value Research, 04 Sept

Zee Learn Standalone June 2026 Net Sales at Rs 87.89 crore, up 19.23% Y-o-Y

Moneycontrol.com, 07 Aug

Price Band Hitters, June 30, 2026: Style Baaza, McLeod Russel Lead

HDFC Sky, 30 Jun

Watch Items

Revenue growth is negative (-13.9%) on the latest reported period — check if this is one-off or a trend.
Cross-check against the company's latest quarterly filing / investor presentation before acting.
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

StrongBusiness Quality · Profitability · Valuation

MiddlingFinancial Health · Growth

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. 1 high-severity red flag sits above this conclusion and should be read first.

2 of 5 tripwires tripped — Debt / EBITDA falls below 3x; Interest cover stays above 3x · see Key things to watch ↑