Aten Papers (544417)

Score breakdown: P/E: 3/3 · ROCE: 2/2 · Growth: 0/2 · Dividend: 0/1

Key Financials

Strengths

• P/E of 4.00 and ₹22 Cr market cap make the headline valuation look deeply cheap; PEG of 0.27 also appears low.
• ROCE of 43.87% indicates strong return on capital employed.
• Sales growth of 14.77% shows demand traction, with latest quarter sales at ₹67 Cr.
• Company is still profitable in the latest quarter with net profit of ₹2 Cr.

Concerns

• Profit growth is -40.58% and Piotroski F-Score is 4/9, pointing to deteriorating fundamentals.
• Latest quarter net margin is very thin — only ₹2 Cr net profit on ₹67 Cr sales.
• Dividend yield is zero, so there is no income support while waiting for a recovery.
• Critical data is missing: book value, debt/equity, and promoter holding, making a full balance-sheet and governance assessment impossible.

AI Analysis

At ₹21.20, Aten Papers trades at just 4 times earnings and only ₹22 crore market cap. That looks cheap, but cheapness must be measured against quality. The business earns a remarkable 43.87% ROCE, and sales grew 14.77%, so the underlying enterprise is not dead. Yet profit declined 40.58% in the latest period, and the Piotroski F-Score of 4/9 tells me the fundamentals are deteriorating. A low P/E with falling profits can be a value trap. In the latest quarter, sales were ₹67 crore but net profit only ₹2 crore — a razor-thin margin. If input costs or prices keep squeezing, the earnings power could erode further. The PEG of 0.27 superficially suggests growth support, but with profit falling, I would not rely on that ratio. Paper is a cyclical commodity business; there is little pricing power and no obvious moat. Dividend yield is zero, so I am not being paid to wait. Worse, key information is missing: book value, debt/equity, promoter holding. Without these, I cannot assess the balance sheet or whether management is aligned with minority shareholders. Graham would demand a margin of safety beyond a low multiple. I would want to see profit stability, positive free cash flow, and clarity on debt before committing. The high ROCE is encouraging, but a 4/9 F-score warns of weak financial health. This is not a Buffett-style compounding machine. It might be a cyclical or turnaround candidate, but only with evidence that margins are recovering. For a retail investor, the risk-reward is not yet clear. I would put this on my watchlist, not buy it yet.

Data from BSE/NSE filings. AI analysis is for educational purposes only — not investment advice. Scoring methodology · Disclaimer