Zee Media Corporation Limited

Communication Services — Broadcasting · NSE

₹7.12+₹0.04 (+0.56%)

DalalBaazaar Score

44 / 100

🟡 Moderate

Verdict

CAUTION

Risk

Very High

Driven by short-term liabilities exceed short-term assets, the company is currently loss-making, micro-cap size, which brings thin liquidity.

In simple words: The company is currently losing money, with modest growth. Short-term liquidity is the main factor to watch.

Decision support, not a buy or sell call.

As of 18 Oct 2026, 6:10 pm

Caution warranted. Multiple fundamental metrics — flagged in red below — point to either valuation stretch, leverage risk, or weakening profitability. This doesn't mean avoid the stock outright, but it does mean the burden of proof is on the growth story to justify the current price.

Understanding the Business

Company site ↗

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

What does this company do?

Zee Media Corporation Limited publishes and broadcasts satellite television channels in India and internationally. The company sells television programs and contents; and provides advertisement, subscription, and content distribution services.

IndustryBroadcasting

SectorCommunication Services

Employees1,568

Annual revenue₹759 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹759 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹0 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹16 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 1,568 employees supports ₹48.4 lakh of revenue a year, the signature of a people-led business.

EBITDA margin16.4%

Net margin0.2%

Revenue / employee₹48.4 lakh

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.

BHARTI AIRTEL LIMITEDP/E 39.8x · ROE 20.2%

VODAFONE IDEA LIMITEDP/E 3.6x · ROE —

What is its competitive advantage?Little sign of one

Returns on capital of 4.3% 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.

ROCE4.3%

ROE0.8%

Peer median ROE20.2%

What has been driving growth?

Profit has moved mainly because margins changed, not because the business sold much more. Over 3 years revenue moved +5% while net margin moved -103% 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+5%

Margin effect-103%

DalalBaazaar Score

44/ 100

Moderate

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✗ No meaningful P/E — the company is lossmaking

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

46/ 100

Average

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

Valuation

49/ 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.

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

P/E (Trailing)

Not meaningful

P/B

2.01x

EV/EBITDA

4.4x

PEG

—

Dividend Yield

None

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well5

Margins are improving
EBITDA margin is up from 8.7% to 16.4% over 3 years.
Debt is being paid down
Total debt is down 58% over 3 years.
Cash generation is improving
Free cash flow is up 129% over 3 years.
Return on equity is rising
ROE has improved from -17.8% to 0.8%.
Return on capital is rising
ROCE has improved from -8.0% to 4.3%.

🔴 What Needs Attention2

Receivables growing faster than sales
Receivables are up 107% against revenue growth of 5% — customers are taking longer to pay.
Short-term liquidity is tight
Current ratio of 0.65 — near-term obligations exceed near-term assets.

Red Flags

3 items require attention · 2 high · 1 watch

🔴Thin interest coverageFinancial
Operating profit covers interest only 0.7x — little room if earnings dip.
🔴Receivables growing faster than salesFinancial
Receivables up 107% against revenue up 5% — sales are being booked faster than they are collected.
🟡Short-term liquidity is tightFinancial
Current ratio of 0.65 — near-term obligations exceed near-term assets.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Margin expansion has further to run
EBITDA margin has risen from 8.7% to 16.4%. 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 58% over 3 years. Every rupee of interest not paid drops to the bottom line, so profit can grow even if revenue does not.
Self-funding with balance-sheet headroom
Positive free cash flow of ₹88 Cr alongside low debt means growth, buybacks or dividends need no outside money — and a downturn can be absorbed rather than refinanced.

🔴 Bear CaseWhat could go wrong?

Sales are being booked faster than collected
Receivables are up 107% against revenue up 5%. If customers keep taking longer to pay, reported profit will not turn into cash — and write-offs follow if some never do.
Growth barely outpaces inflation
Revenue compounding at 1.8% a year is close to the rate prices rise, so the business is gaining little ground in real terms. That leaves the share price dependent on a re-rating rather than on earnings growth.
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
2 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

1EBITDA margin holds above 14%✓ 16.4%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
2Interest cover stays above 3x✗ 0.7x
How much operating profit can fall before interest stops being comfortably covered.
3Revenue growth stays above 4% a year✗ 1.8% CAGR
Latest reported year was 4.7%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.
4Free cash flow remains positive✓ ₹88 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
5Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x✓ 0.7x
The ratio lenders write covenants against; it survives a small or negative equity base, unlike Debt/Equity.

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 · 4 neutral · 4 weak

Market Cap

₹467 Cr

Micro 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

2.01x

Fair

Moderate premium to the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹-0.02

Loss-making

Negative earnings per share — the business is losing money

ROE

0.8%

Weak

Weak capital efficiency

ROCE

4.3%

Weak

Low return on total capital employed

Debt/Equity

0.37x

Low

Conservative leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

4.7%

Modest

Modest growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

101.6%

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

₹88 Cr

Cash generative

Generates cash even after funding its capex

More Metrics

CMP

₹7.12

Operating Margin

-5.1%

Weak

Thin margins leave little room for error

Net Margin

-0.2%

Weak

Very little revenue reaches the bottom line

Current Ratio

0.65

Tight

Tight short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

0.86

Market-like

Moves roughly in line with the market

52W Range Position

10%

Near low

Near its 52-week low

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

7.2 / 7.9

Bearish alignment (short < long)

Price vs SMA 200

Below

Long-term downtrend

RSI (14)

28.6

Oversold zone

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹721 Cr	₹638 Cr	₹622 Cr	₹759 Cr	+1.8%
EBITDA	₹63 Cr	-₹6 Cr	₹3 Cr	₹124 Cr	+25.4%
EBITDA Margin	8.7%	-0.9%	0.5%	16.4%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	-₹69 Cr	-₹98 Cr	-₹119 Cr	₹2 Cr	—
EPS	₹-1.1	₹-1.57	₹-1.91	₹0.03	—
ROE	-17.8%	-34.0%	-54.1%	0.8%	—
ROCE	-8.0%	-23.5%	-34.2%	4.3%	—
Total Debt	₹199 Cr	₹246 Cr	₹174 Cr	₹83 Cr	-25.3%
Free Cash Flow	₹38 Cr	₹62 Cr	₹53 Cr	₹88 Cr	+31.8%

🟡 Revenue has been broadly flat over 3 years (1.8% a year).

🟢 EBITDA has grown at 25.4% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA Margin has risen from 8.7% to 16.4% over 3 years (+7.6 pts).

🟢 PAT (Net Profit) has turned positive, from -₹69 Cr to ₹2 Cr.

🟢 EPS has turned positive, from ₹-1.1 to ₹0.03.

🟢 ROE has risen from -17.8% to 0.8% over 3 years (+18.6 pts).

🟢 ROCE has risen from -8.0% to 4.3% over 3 years (+12.4 pts).

🟢 Total Debt has shrunk at 25.3% a year over 3 years.

🟢 Free Cash Flow has grown at 31.8% a year over 3 years.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹873 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹649 Cr

Total Debt

₹83 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹8 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

₹98 Cr

Capex

-₹10 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

6.4%

Insider Holding

39.9%

Corporate Actions

Ex-Dividend Date

28 Jul 2016

Peer Comparison

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

Recent News

2 mixed4 general

Zee Media clarifies ₹119 crore fund use for preferential issue

scanx.trade, 18 Oct

Zee Media Corporation Ltd. Share Price Gain: Key Analysis

Univest, 13 AugPrice move

🟡Mixed / dependsA price move, which is not by itself a change in the business. Worth finding the cause before reading it as either good or bad.

Big boost for Zee Media Corporation! Mauritius-based FII raises stake to 5.04%

Livemint, 29 Jun

Zee Media Corporation reports consolidated net loss of Rs 12.12 crore in the June 2026 quarter

Business Standard, 15 AugResults

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

Zee Media Corporation approves ₹119 crore warrant issue to foreign investors

CNBC TV18, 18 May

Momentum Stocks: Zee Media, Mahalaxmi Rubtech, ABM International locked at upper circuits

Moneycontrol.com, 13 Aug

Watch Items

Trading very close to its 52-week low — worth checking whether this reflects a temporary setback or a structural problem.
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

🟡Business QualityAdequate9/20

🟡Financial HealthAdequate12.2/20

🔴GrowthWeak7.6/20

🔴ProfitabilityWeak5.9/15

🔴ValuationDemanding5.1/15

🔴RiskHigh4/10

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

This thesis breaks if

✓EBITDA margin holds above 14%16.4%
✗Interest cover stays above 3x0.7x
✗Revenue growth stays above 4% a year1.8% CAGR
✓Free cash flow remains positive₹88 Cr
✓Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x0.7x