Abril Paper (544500)

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

Key Financials

Strengths

• ROCE of 20.04% indicates strong return on capital employed
• Profit growth of 27.38% outpacing sales growth of 14.48% suggests operating leverage
• Piotroski F-Score of 7/9 signals reasonable financial health
• PEG of 0.86 implies growth is not excessively expensive
• Small market cap of ₹30 crore offers potential upside if execution continues

Concerns

• No book value, debt-equity, or promoter holding data makes a Graham-style margin-of-safety impossible to assess
• Latest quarter net margin is thin: ₹1 crore profit on ₹38 crore sales
• P/E of 18.08 with very small absolute earnings leaves little room for error
• Zero dividend yield means no income support while waiting for growth

AI Analysis

At ₹37.15, Abril Paper is capitalised at only ₹30 crore. That is small enough to be interesting, but also small enough to be fragile. Right away I am bothered by what I cannot see: no book value, no debt-equity ratio, no promoter holding. Graham would refuse to estimate a margin of safety without those figures. What I can see is decent capital efficiency: ROCE of 20.04% is respectable. Sales grew 14.48% and profit grew 27.38%, so the business appears to be gaining operating leverage. A Piotroski F-Score of 7 out of 9 also suggests improving fundamentals. The P/E of 18.08 is not cheap, but with a PEG of 0.86, the growth is not outrageously priced. Still, I am cautious. The latest quarter shows ₹38 crore of sales but only ₹1 crore of net profit, which is a thin margin of roughly 2.6%. With trailing earnings of only about ₹1.66 crore, a small swing in costs or demand can wipe out the profit. There is no dividend, so the investor gets no income while waiting. This looks like a fast grower on paper, but I cannot call it a wonderful business without evidence of a durable moat. In Buffett's language, I would rather pay a fair price for a great business than a low price for a so-so one. Here I see momentum and a good ROCE, but far too little disclosure for a value investor to commit. I would keep it on the watchlist and demand audited financials, several years of cash flow, and proof of promoter alignment before acting.

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