Orient Cables India Limited IPO

01At a glance

What the company does — manufactures networking cables and passive networking equipment for broadband, telecom, data centres, renewable energy, building automation and security, system integration, FMEG and automotive customers, in three segments: networking cables and solutions; specialty power and optical-fibre cables; and other allied products (DRHP p.19). New products include e-beam irradiated specialty cables, solar junction boxes, tethered drone systems, harnesses and power cords (DRHP p.19).

Who pays it — mostly business customers made to their specifications; the largest customer was 29.29% of FY25 revenue and the top ten 74.75% (DRHP p.37). Exports were 10.79% of FY25 revenue, most of it to the Middle East (DRHP p.50).

Why it is raising money — ₹915.00 million for machinery, equipment and civil works at its plants, ₹1,555.00 million to repay borrowings, and the rest for general purposes (DRHP p.20).

How fast it has grown — revenue from ₹5,437 million in FY23 to ₹6,578 million in FY24 and ₹8,250 million in FY25 (DRHP p.21).

The one thing to understand — a family-owned cable maker with high returns that has started to consume cash, and more than half the offer goes to the family. Return on equity was between 34.58% and 37.26% in each year, but operating cash flow went from ₹421.81 million in FY24 to negative ₹97.85 million in FY25, borrowings rose from ₹369.72 million to ₹1,152.69 million, and ₹3,800 million of the ₹7,000 million offer is promoter shares (DRHP p.19, DRHP p.21, DRHP p.49, DRHP p.129).

02The business, in plain words

A networking-cable maker turns conductors and insulating materials into data and power cables made to each customer's specification, and supplies them alongside passive networking equipment.

A broadband or networking customer needs cable to its specification → it places an order with Orient Cables → Orient makes the cable at Bhiwadi and ships it → the customer pays on agreed terms.

Earnings equation: Profit ≈ kilometres of cable sold × (price − materials − conversion cost) − overheads − interest. EBITDA margin was 10.17% in FY25 (DRHP p.129).

03Where the money comes from

Source: DRHP p.37, DRHP p.50, DRHP p.214.

04The growth record

Source: DRHP p.21, DRHP p.49, DRHP p.129.

05What the growth is made of

Networking cables. That segment grew from ₹4,663.41 million in FY23 to ₹7,250.58 million in FY25, while specialty power and optical-fibre cables fell in FY25 (DRHP p.214). Revenue grew 23.18% a year over two years, and EBITDA margin rose by 2.2 points (DRHP p.129).

06Earnings quality

Operating cash flow of ₹521.94 million over FY23 to FY25 was well below profit of ₹1,193.19 million, and negative in FY25 (our arithmetic, DRHP p.21, DRHP p.49). Net working capital rose from 12 days in FY23 to 27 days in FY25 (DRHP p.129). Investing outflows were ₹598.23 million in FY25, while financing inflows were ₹631.10 million (DRHP p.49).

07The balance sheet

Source: DRHP p.21, DRHP p.129.

08What the money is for

Source: DRHP p.20.

09Who is selling

Source: DRHP p.1, DRHP p.20. The sellers' average cost of acquisition is ₹0.00 to ₹0.01 a share (DRHP p.1).

10Promoters

The promoters are Vipul Nagpal, Garima Nagpal, Vardaan Nagpal, Vipul Family Trust and Garima Family Trust, who hold 99.99% (DRHP p.19, DRHP p.20). A tax proceeding involving ₹16.81 million is pending against the promoters, and the promoters have filed two criminal cases and one civil suit involving ₹343.08 million (DRHP p.22).

11Who already owns it

Source: DRHP p.20.

12What changed just before the IPO

• Share split and bonus — ₹10 shares split into ₹1 shares in December 2024, then a bonus issue in January 2025 (DRHP p.21, DRHP p.126).
• Borrowings — up from ₹369.72 million to ₹1,152.69 million in FY25 (DRHP p.21).
• Customer mix — largest customer's share down from 38.57% to 29.29% (DRHP p.37).

13Capacity and expansion

The plants are all at Bhiwadi, Rajasthan (DRHP p.23). The proceeds fund ₹915.00 million of machinery, equipment and civil works there (DRHP p.20). The document lists underuse of capacity among its top risks (DRHP p.23).

14Market size and industry structure

The 1Lattice report cited in the offer document values India's networking-cable market at ₹29.2 billion in FY2025, up from ₹20.6 billion in FY2022, and projects about ₹72 billion by FY2030 (DRHP p.19). Those projections are 1Lattice's, and newboard has not tested them.

15Competitive position

What the document claims, and what it rests on:

• Customisation — products made to customer specifications (DRHP p.19).
• Returns — return on equity of 34.58% against 13% to 23% for large listed cable makers (DRHP p.126).
• New products — specialty cables, solar junction boxes and drone systems (DRHP p.19).

Against that: customer concentration, one location, dependence on networking cables, and rising working capital (DRHP p.23, DRHP p.37, DRHP p.129).

16Peers the company named

Source: DRHP p.126. The table also lists Paramount Communications, Birla Cable and Sterlite Technologies; the peers' P/E ranges from 20.43 to 110.17, average 52.35 (DRHP p.125, DRHP p.126).

No P/E is possible for the company until a price band is set.

17Risks, in plain words

• Customers. Ten customers were 75% of FY25 revenue, one of them 29% (DRHP p.37).
• Cash. Operating cash flow negative in FY25 (DRHP p.49).
• One location. All plants at Bhiwadi (DRHP p.23).
• One product line. Networking cables were 88% of revenue (DRHP p.214).
• Promoter exit. Over half the offer goes to the promoters (DRHP p.19).

18Litigation and regulatory matters

Source: DRHP p.22. The same ₹343.08 million appears for directors and for promoters (DRHP p.22).

19Related-party transactions

Not read in detail for this study.

20What the offer document does not say

In the sections read for this study, the document does not give:

• Who the largest customer is, providing ₹2,416.18 million in FY25, in the pages read.
• Why operating cash flow turned negative in FY25, in the pages read.
• Who benefits from the Vipul and Garima Family Trusts, in the pages read.
• What the ₹343.08 million civil suit filed by the promoters concerns, in the pages read.
• The price band, lot size or issue dates, which is normal at DRHP stage.

21Five questions for management

1. Why did FY25 operating cash flow turn negative?
2. Who is the largest customer, and on what terms?
3. How much capacity will the ₹915 million of machinery add?
4. Why do the promoters offer ₹3,800 million of shares while the company borrows?
5. What is the ₹343 million suit filed by the promoters about?

1Sources and cited facts

This study was read from 1 document the company filed. The 28 figures it cites are listed under the document each came from, with the page and the sentence as printed.