Zodiac Ventures Limited

Real Estate — Real Estate Services · BSE

₹1.59−₹0.04 (−2.45%)

DalalBaazaar Score

49 / 100

🟡 Moderate

Verdict

CAUTION

Risk

High

Driven by negative free cash flow, micro-cap size, which brings thin liquidity, falling profits.

In simple words: The business is earning a fairly low return on the money invested in it, though profits are falling even as sales grow. 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 Zodiac Ventures Limited — what it does, how it earns, and who it competes with, before any of the numbers below.

What does this company do?

Zodiac Ventures Limited operates as a real estate development company in India. It engages in the construction or redevelopment of slum areas, cessed buildings by housing societies, and old buildings belonging to Municipal Corporation.

IndustryReal Estate Services

SectorReal Estate

Employees6

Annual revenue₹3 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹3 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹45 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹110 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 6 employees supports ₹57.2 lakh of revenue a year, the signature of a people-led business.

Revenue / employee₹57.2 lakh

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are DLF LIMITED, GODREJ PROPERTIES LTD, OBEROI REALTY 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 8.5% 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 ROE10.3%

What has been driving growth?

Profit has moved mainly because margins changed, not because the business sold much more. Over 3 years revenue moved -97% while net margin moved +2064% 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-97%

Margin effect+2064%

DalalBaazaar Score

49/ 100

Moderate

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✗ Revenue has contracted at 67.4% a year
✗ Profit has declined at 9.2% a year
✗ Profit fell 75.0% in the latest year

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

43/ 100

Weak

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

Valuation

82/ 100

Cheap

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

Optically cheap, but the underlying business scores poorly. Cheap-and-weak is what a value trap looks like from the outside — the low price may be deserved.

Historical Valuation

Current P/E

8.8x

3Y Median

38.2x

40 monthly readings · mean 52.8x · range 4.4x–152.3x

Sector Median

30.2x

median of 3 sector peers

🟢Current valuation is approximately 77% below its 3y median of 38.2x. 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 71% below the peer median of 30.2x.

vs. its own history

Cheap

38.2x median over 40 months · -77%

vs. sector peers

Cheap

30.2x median of 3 peers · -71%

vs. generic bands

Cheap

Below 15x

EV/EBITDA

8.5x

PEG

—

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well3

Margins are improving
EBITDA margin is up from 11.1% to 109.9% over 3 years.
Debt is being paid down
Total debt is down 40% 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 22.0% to 3.5% — each rupee of shareholder capital earns less than it did.
Return on capital is falling
ROCE has declined from 26.0% to 8.5% — often a sign of competition or overexpansion.

Red Flags

4 items require attention · 1 high · 3 watch

🔴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.
🟡Free cash flow is negativeFinancial
Free cash flow was -₹19 Cr in the latest year.
🟡Profit is decliningFinancial
Net profit is down 25% over 3 years.
🟡Shareholders have been dilutedOwnership
Shares outstanding are up 60% over 3 years — each existing share owns a smaller slice of the company.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Margin expansion has further to run
EBITDA margin has risen from 11.1% to 109.9%. 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 40% 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 77% 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 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 5.0x EBITDA. At that level a downturn in earnings turns a manageable balance sheet into a refinancing problem, and lenders get paid before shareholders.
Returns on shareholder capital are falling
ROE has dropped from 22.0% to 3.5%. 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.
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

1EBITDA margin holds above 108%✓ 109.9%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
2Debt / EBITDA falls below 3x✗ 5.0x
Already stretched, so this is a reduction target rather than a level to hold. Around 3x is where lenders typically start attaching conditions.
3Free cash flow remains positive✗ -₹19 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
4Interest cover stays above 3x✗ 2.1x
How much operating profit can fall before interest stops being comfortably covered.
5ROCE stays above 8%✓ 8.5%
Falling returns on capital are usually competition arriving, and show up here before they reach the margin.

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

6 good · 2 neutral · 3 weak

Market Cap

₹13 Cr

Micro Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

8.8x

Cheap

Cheap against the generic band

P/B Ratio

0.29x

Reasonable

Reasonable against the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹0.18

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

3.5%

Weak

Weak capital efficiency

ROCE

8.5%

Moderate

Moderate return on the capital in the business

Debt/Equity

0.43x

Low

Conservative leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

74.9%

Healthy

Healthy top-line growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

-75.0%

Falling

Profits are shrinking

Dividend Yield

6.29%

Healthy

Meaningful cash return while you hold the stock

Free Cash Flow

-₹19 Cr

Cash burning

Spending more cash than the operations bring in

More Metrics

Operating Margin

12.0%

Average

Average margins

Net Margin

35.8%

Good

Strong bottom-line conversion

Current Ratio

1.29

Comfortable

Healthy short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

0.41

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

22%

Mid-range

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

1.6 / 1.6

Bullish alignment (short > long)

Price vs SMA 200

Below

Long-term downtrend

RSI (14)

41.3

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹99 Cr	₹1 Cr	₹2 Cr	₹3 Cr	-67.4%
EBITDA	₹11 Cr	₹1 Cr	₹4 Cr	₹4 Cr	-30.0%
EBITDA Margin	11.1%	246.0%	220.8%	109.9%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹2 Cr	₹1 Cr	₹1 Cr	₹2 Cr	-9.2%
EPS	₹0.4	₹0.1	₹0.27	₹0.24	-15.1%
ROE	22.0%	3.6%	7.0%	3.5%	—
ROCE	26.0%	9.9%	24.0%	8.5%	—
Total Debt	₹31 Cr	₹22 Cr	₹27 Cr	₹19 Cr	-15.6%
Free Cash Flow	₹73 Cr	-₹4 Cr	₹3 Cr	-₹19 Cr	—

🔴 Revenue has shrunk at 67.4% a year over 3 years.

🔴 EBITDA has shrunk at 30.0% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA Margin has risen from 11.1% to 109.9% over 3 years (+98.8 pts).

🔴 PAT (Net Profit) has shrunk at 9.2% a year over 3 years.

🔴 EPS has shrunk at 15.1% a year over 3 years.

🔴 ROE has fallen from 22.0% to 3.5% over 3 years (-18.5 pts).

🔴 ROCE has fallen from 26.0% to 8.5% over 3 years (-17.5 pts).

🟢 Total Debt has shrunk at 15.6% a year over 3 years.

🔴 Free Cash Flow has turned negative, from ₹73 Cr to -₹19 Cr.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹87 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹43 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹0 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

-₹19 Cr

Capex

-₹0 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

0.0%

Insider Holding

40.1%

Corporate Actions

Dividend Rate

₹0.1

Ex-Dividend Date

23 Sept 2025

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
DLF LIMITED	36.6x	10.3%
GODREJ PROPERTIES LTD	30.2x	8.4%
OBEROI REALTY LIMITED	23.5x	14.7%

Recent News

1 mixed5 general

Zodiac Ventures posts 48% PAT growth in FY26; AGM set for Sept 28

scanx.trade, 18 Oct

Zodiac Ventures board approves re-appointment of Jimit and Ramesh Shah

scanx.trade, 17 Oct

Compare with

Equitymaster, 27 Sept

87 Best Penny Stocks Under 5 Rs In India For October 2026

Samco, 14 Oct

Compare with ESCORT FINAN

Equitymaster, 27 Sept

Pakka reports consolidated net profit of Rs 5.89 crore in the June 2026 quarter

Business Standard, 14 AugResults

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

Watch Items

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

DalalBaazaar Thesis

StrongValuation

MiddlingBusiness Quality · Financial Health · Profitability

WeakGrowth · Risk

Points for each in the Score ↑

Cheap, but for a reason

The low price is the whole case here, and the business underneath scores poorly. Cheap-and-weak is what a value trap looks like from the outside — it needs a specific reason the numbers are about to improve, not just the observation that they are low. 1 high-severity red flag sits above this conclusion and should be read first.

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