Stalwart People Services India Limited IPO

01At a glance

What the company does — supplies manned security guards and AI-enabled video surveillance through its platform "Intelisenz", hard and soft facilities management, and staffing services, mainly to corporate clients (AP p.2).

Who pays it — over 1,099 clients across more than 15 sectors, including aviation, banking, healthcare, IT, logistics, retail, education, public-sector undertakings and quick commerce, at 2,752 locations (AP p.2, AP p.3). The abridged prospectus marks top-five customer concentration "not applicable" (AP p.3).

Why it is raising money — ₹650 million for working capital, ₹400 million to repay borrowings, and the rest for general purposes (AP p.5).

How fast it has grown — revenue from ₹1,826 million in FY23 to ₹3,969 million in FY25, a two-year growth rate of 47.44% a year (AP p.7).

The one thing to understand — a thin-margin, people-heavy business growing faster than its cash. EBITDA margin fell from 8.27% in FY24 to 5.63% in the nine months to December 2025, operating cash flow was negative in FY25 and the nine months, and receivables rose to ₹1,331 million (AP p.6, AP p.7, DRHP p.48).

02The business, in plain words

A security and facilities company places guards, cleaners, technicians and temporary staff at client sites and bills a monthly rate per person or per post. It pays wages and statutory contributions monthly, but clients pay on credit, so growth ties up working capital.

An airport operator needs 200 guards and a surveillance feed → it contracts Stalwart → Stalwart recruits, trains and deploys guards and installs its Intelisenz analytics → it bills monthly, on credit of up to 60 days.

The company had 25,070 staff and 23 regional offices, which handle recruitment, training and uniforms (AP p.3). About 78.30% of revenue comes from south India: Tamil Nadu 44.53%, Karnataka 24.04%, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana 8.50%, and Kerala 1.23% (AP p.3). The company also has overseas operations (AP p.4).

Earnings equation: Profit ≈ staff deployed × (billing rate − wages, statutory dues and supervision) − overheads. EBITDA margin was 5.63% in the nine months to December 2025 (AP p.7).

03Where the money comes from

Source: AP p.2, AP p.3.

Security fell from 89.48% of revenue in FY23 to 62.62% in the nine months to December 2025, as staffing grew to 21.53% (AP p.2, AP p.3).

04The growth record

Source: AP p.6, AP p.7.

05What the growth is made of

Staffing and facilities management grew fastest: staffing revenue in nine months of FY26 was more than twice full-year FY25 (AP p.3). EBITDA margin has fallen as these lines grew; the pages read do not give margins by business line (AP p.7). Revenue in the nine months to December 2025 was already 20% above full-year FY25 (our arithmetic).

06Earnings quality

Profit in the nine months to December 2025 was higher than profit before tax: the company booked a net tax credit of ₹4.05 million, including a negative current-tax figure of ₹6.06 million, on profit before tax of ₹224.30 million (DRHP p.74). The pages read do not explain the credit.

Receivables were ₹1,330.98 million at December 2025, up from ₹355.66 million at March 2024; receivable days were 77 for the nine months (DRHP p.48). Operating cash flow was negative in three of the four periods (AP p.6). The auditors reported no qualifications, but CARO remarks were made for the nine-month period (AP p.9).

07The balance sheet

Source: AP p.6, DRHP p.48.

The company moved from net cash of ₹232.69 million at March 2024 to net debt of ₹122.66 million at December 2025 (AP p.7). Equity share capital rose from ₹9.00 million to ₹279.00 million in the nine months to December 2025 (AP p.6).

08What the money is for

Source: AP p.1, AP p.5.

A pre-IPO placement of up to ₹225 million may reduce the fresh issue (AP p.5).

09Who is selling

Source: AP p.1.

10Promoters

The promoters are Christopher Arvinth, chairman and managing director, with the company since incorporation and over 22 years in security, facilities and staffing; and Caroline Mendez, whole-time director and chief executive since 1 April 2023, who oversees domestic operations (AP p.4). The company has applied to SEBI for an exemption from identifying certain relatives of Christopher Arvinth as promoter group because they did not respond (AP p.8).

11Who already owns it

Source: AP p.5, AP p.6.

12What changed just before the IPO

• Mix — staffing and facilities management rose to 37% of revenue (AP p.3).
• Borrowings — up from ₹20 million to ₹473 million in 21 months (AP p.6).
• Share capital — raised to ₹279 million, with 55,800,000 shares outstanding (AP p.6, AP p.7).
• Tax — a net tax credit in the nine months to December 2025 (DRHP p.74).

13Capacity and expansion

Capacity here is people: 25,070 staff at April 2026 (AP p.3). The proceeds fund working capital to take on more contracts, not fixed assets (AP p.5). Two subsidiaries, Stalwart Facility and Security Services L.L.C and Stalwart Intellisense, have made losses (AP p.9).

14Market size and industry structure

The Frost & Sullivan report cited in the offer document values India's security-services market at ₹1,773.9 billion in FY26 and forecasts ₹3,067.6 billion by FY31, and forecasts the facilities-management market to reach ₹942.3 billion by FY31 (AP p.4). Those forecasts are Frost & Sullivan's, and newboard has not tested them.

15Competitive position

What the document claims, and what it rests on:

• An integrated offer of guarding, surveillance technology, facilities and staffing (AP p.2).
• A broad client base of over 1,099 clients (AP p.3).

Against that: south-India concentration, much larger listed competitors, and thin margins (AP p.3, DRHP p.138).

16Peers the company named

Source: DRHP p.138. Peer P/E uses prices on 19 June 2026.

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

17Risks, in plain words

• South India. 78% of revenue (AP p.3, AP p.8).
• Working capital. Wages are paid before clients pay (AP p.8, DRHP p.48).
• Contract pricing. Wage and statutory cost increases may not be passed on (AP p.8).
• Workforce. Background checks, claims, and labour-law cases (AP p.8).
• Technology. The AI surveillance platform must be maintained and secured (AP p.8).
• Loss-making subsidiaries (AP p.9).

18Litigation and regulatory matters

Source: AP p.10.

No proceedings are outstanding against the promoters, directors or subsidiaries (AP p.10).

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:

• The largest clients or their shares of revenue.
• Why the nine-month tax charge was a credit.
• Margins by business line, in the pages read.
• What the CARO remarks for the nine-month period concern, in the pages read.
• The price band, lot size or issue dates, which is normal at DRHP stage.

21Five questions for management

1. What share of revenue comes from the largest client and the largest five?
2. Why was there a net tax credit in the nine months to December 2025?
3. What are EBITDA margins in security, facilities and staffing separately?
4. Why did receivables almost quadruple in 21 months?
5. What do the losses in the overseas and Intellisense subsidiaries amount to?

2Sources and cited facts

This study was read from 2 documents the company filed. The 33 figures it cites are listed under the document each came from, with the page and the sentence as printed.