Olpad Aqua Limited IPO

01At a glance

What the company does: sells farming inputs to shrimp farmers in South Gujarat on credit, buys back the harvest, and sells it fresh, frozen or for export; frozen product is made by a third-party contract processor (AP p.2).

Who pays it: domestic and overseas buyers of black tiger shrimp, fresh and frozen. The largest customer was 29.26% of FY26 revenue and the top ten 88.40% (DRHP p.24).

Why it is raising money: ₹3,200.00 lakh for incremental working capital, with the balance for general corporate purposes. There is no other object (DRHP p.79).

How fast it has grown: revenue from ₹6,769.81 lakh in FY24 to ₹15,756.32 lakh in FY26, a compound rate of 52.6% a year, and profit from ₹71.06 lakh to ₹837.52 lakh, 243.3% a year, by our arithmetic (DRHP p.52).

The one thing to understand: the same farmer is both the customer and the supplier. Inputs go out on seasonal credit and the harvest comes back, and the prospectus states that farmers are under no obligation to offer their harvest to the company and may take the harvest to processors, exporters, traders or commission agents in the same catchment (DRHP p.27).

02The business, in plain words

Olpad Aqua supplies seed, feed, medicines, chemicals, aerators and allied equipment to shrimp farmers in and around Olpad, Surat, mostly on credit and mostly at the start of a crop. It gives technical guidance during cultivation. At harvest it buys the shrimp on a consignment basis against a quality check at the farm and a second check on arrival, moves it under cold chain, grades it, and sells it fresh, or sends it to a contract processor to be frozen and then sells it (AP p.2, DRHP p.27).

A farmer needs seed, feed and equipment → Olpad Aqua supplies them on seasonal credit → the farmer raises the crop → Olpad Aqua buys the harvest, grades it, and sells it fresh, frozen or for export → it is paid by the buyer.

The company was incorporated on August 7, 2019 and became a public company with a fresh certificate of incorporation dated June 10, 2026 (DRHP p.57). It runs four branches, two at Surat, one at Navsari and one at Valsad (AP p.2). It had 27 permanent employees at the date of the prospectus, of whom ten are heavy vehicle drivers and six are in sales and marketing (DRHP p.127). It owns no farm and no processing facility, and describes itself as operating an asset-light model across farming and processing (DRHP p.113).

Earnings equation: Profit ≈ kilograms sold × (selling price − farm-gate price) − cold chain and transport − contract processing − branch cost. In FY26 the cost of goods sold was ₹14,233.81 lakh against revenue of ₹15,756.32 lakh, a gross margin of 9.66%, by our arithmetic, with employee cost ₹232.48 lakh and other expenses ₹202.80 lakh (DRHP p.52).

03Where the money comes from

Source: DRHP p.24, DRHP p.125. No customer is named.

Almost all of the revenue is shrimp. Sales of farming inputs, being equipment, medicines and feed, were ₹330.51 lakh in FY24, ₹385.40 lakh in FY25 and ₹394.27 lakh in FY26, an increase of about 19.30% over three years while total revenue rose 132.8%, by our arithmetic (DRHP p.32, DRHP p.52). So the input business, which is what creates the relationship with the farmer, is about 2.5% of revenue, by our arithmetic.

On the buying side, the top ten suppliers were 63.63% of FY26 purchases, 56.92% in FY25 and 59.60% in FY24 (DRHP p.25). There are no long-term supply agreements or assured supply arrangements with any farmer; the harvest is offered and bought consignment by consignment (DRHP p.27).

Revenue does depend on a few buyers: ten customers were 88.40% of FY26 revenue, down from 93.77% a year earlier, and the largest fell from 47.70% in FY24 to 29.26% (DRHP p.24).

04The growth record

Source: DRHP p.51, DRHP p.52, DRHP p.53. EBITDA, its margin, the PAT margin and net worth are our arithmetic on those statements: EBITDA is profit before tax plus finance cost and depreciation less other income, and net worth is share capital plus reserves.

Revenue compounded at 52.6% a year from FY24 to FY26 and profit at 243.3%, by our arithmetic (DRHP p.52). Earnings per share were ₹0.77, ₹3.44 and ₹9.03 (DRHP p.52).

The margin did most of the work. Gross margin, being revenue less cost of goods sold, moved from 4.18% in FY24 to 9.66% in FY26, by our arithmetic, so gross profit rose from ₹283.03 lakh to ₹1,522.51 lakh while revenue rose 132.8% (DRHP p.52). Against that, fixed cost barely moved: depreciation fell from ₹52.19 lakh to ₹47.92 lakh and employee cost rose from ₹100.81 lakh to ₹232.48 lakh (DRHP p.52).

05What the growth is made of

Revenue rose from ₹6,769.81 lakh in FY24 to ₹15,756.32 lakh in FY26, an increase of ₹8,986.51 lakh (DRHP p.52). What the document supports:

Shrimp, not inputs. Revenue from farming inputs rose only from ₹330.51 lakh to ₹394.27 lakh over the three years, so about ₹8,922.75 lakh of the increase is shrimp trading and processing, by our arithmetic (DRHP p.32, DRHP p.52).

Margin, not only turnover. Gross profit rose from ₹283.03 lakh to ₹1,522.51 lakh, by our arithmetic, a faster rise than revenue, so the mix or the pricing changed as well as the volume (DRHP p.52).

More customers at the top. The largest customer fell from 47.70% of revenue to 29.26% while revenue more than doubled, so the increase came from adding buyers rather than selling more to one (DRHP p.24).

The prospectus does not disclose kilograms or tonnes bought, processed or sold, the number of farmers in the network, or the realisation per kilogram, so the increase cannot be separated into volume and price. That sentence is the finding.

06Earnings quality

The line that needs explaining is inventory. The company held no stock at March 2024, ₹112.56 lakh at March 2025 and ₹817.23 lakh at March 2026, an amount equal to about 21 days of the year's cost of goods sold, by our arithmetic (DRHP p.51, DRHP p.52). That build absorbed ₹704.67 lakh of cash in FY26, which is why profit after tax of ₹837.52 lakh produced operating cash of ₹448.61 lakh (DRHP p.53). For a business holding a perishable product through a contract processor, what that stock is and how it is valued matters, and the prospectus does not break it down in the pages read.

A second point is the credit extended to farmers. Inputs are supplied largely on seasonal credit terms, yet trade receivables were only ₹372.32 lakh at March 2026, about 9 days of revenue, by our arithmetic (DRHP p.32, DRHP p.51). The prospectus does not set out separately how much is owed by farmers against inputs and how much by buyers against shrimp.

The company changed its statutory auditor on June 11, 2026, from Parth Ashok Shah to Agarwal R C & Co., the reason given being pre-occupation in other assignments (DRHP p.59).

07The balance sheet

At March 31, 2026 the company had no borrowings, and none in FY24 either; short-term borrowings were ₹2.24 lakh at March 2025 (DRHP p.51). Cash and cash equivalents were ₹315.89 lakh, of which ₹84.85 lakh was cash in hand (DRHP p.51, DRHP p.53). Net worth was ₹1,296.78 lakh, against ₹139.96 lakh two years earlier (DRHP p.51).

Inventories were ₹817.23 lakh and trade receivables ₹372.32 lakh, together ₹1,189.55 lakh, or 7.5% of FY26 revenue, by our arithmetic (DRHP p.51, DRHP p.52). Trade payables were ₹328.77 lakh, of which ₹219.65 lakh were due to micro and small enterprises, by our arithmetic (DRHP p.51). Property, plant and equipment was ₹156.75 lakh, consistent with a business that owns no farm and no plant (DRHP p.51, DRHP p.113). Other non-current assets rose from ₹6.97 lakh to ₹176.52 lakh in FY26, and non-current investments from ₹5.48 lakh to ₹31.64 lakh (DRHP p.51).

The company reports no contingent liabilities and no commitments at any of the three year ends (DRHP p.54).

All of the issue proceeds, ₹3,200.00 lakh of them earmarked for working capital, would be added to a balance sheet whose current assets are ₹1,659.84 lakh today (DRHP p.79, DRHP p.51). The rupee size of the issue is not yet set, so nothing further can be worked out.

08What the money is for

Source: DRHP p.79. General corporate purposes are blank ([●]) at this stage. There is no capital expenditure object, no debt repayment object and no acquisition; the company owns no farm or processing plant and does not propose to build one (DRHP p.79, DRHP p.113).

What working capital does in this business is pay for harvests. Shrimp is bought consignment by consignment at the farm gate, moved under cold chain, and either sold fresh or sent to the contract processor before being sold (DRHP p.27, AP p.2). It also funds the seasonal credit on which farming inputs go out (DRHP p.32). Against ₹3,200.00 lakh of proposed working capital, the company's whole current asset base at March 2026 was ₹1,659.84 lakh and its inventories ₹817.23 lakh (DRHP p.51).

Into the business the whole of the issue. It is a fresh issue of up to 33,98,400 equity shares, with no offer for sale (DRHP p.79, AP p.1). To selling shareholders nil.

The rupee amount cannot be stated, because the price band is blank at this stage (DRHP p.79).

09Who is selling

No one. The issue is a fresh issue of up to 33,98,400 equity shares of ₹10 each and the abridged prospectus records the offer for sale as not applicable, so there are no selling shareholders and no weighted average cost of acquisition to disclose for them (AP p.1).

The prospectus records that none of the promoters or promoter group members will participate in the issue (DRHP p.78).

10Promoters

The promoters are Malek Nurularefin Irfan, Malek Nurulhasan Mohamedsoyeb, Mohammed Farhan Mohammed Irfan Malek and Imtiyaz Khan Farid Khan Pathan (DRHP p.1). Malek Nurularefin Irfan is managing director and chairman, Malek Nurulhasan Mohamedsoyeb and Mohammed Farhan Mohammed Irfan Malek are whole-time directors, and Mohammed Farhan Mohammed Irfan Malek is also chief financial officer (DRHP p.57, DRHP p.58).

The four hold the company in near-equal quarters: 23,17,898, 23,17,900, 23,17,898 and 23,17,898 shares, 24.99%, 25.00%, 24.99% and 24.99% before the issue, 99.99% between them (DRHP p.75). With three promoter group members holding one share each, the promoter group holds 100% (DRHP p.77).

Promoter economics. The only cash ever subscribed was ₹17.83 lakh on incorporation: 44,575 shares each at ₹10 to the four promoters on August 7, 2019 (DRHP p.68). Everything since is bonus: 44,57,500 shares in the ratio 25:1 on March 30, 2026, and 46,35,800 shares in the ratio 1:1 on August 1, 2026, taking the count from 1,78,300 to 92,71,600 (DRHP p.68, DRHP p.69). A year before the filing the same four held 1,78,300 shares between them (DRHP p.76).

Each promoter director took ₹21.08 lakh of remuneration in FY26, against ₹2.50 lakh each in FY25 and FY24 (DRHP p.55). Rent of ₹2.10 lakh each was paid in FY26 to Mohmadsoyab Hajibhai Malek and Malek Mohmed Irfan Hajibhai, with nothing in the two earlier years (DRHP p.55).

There are no outstanding legal proceedings involving the company, its promoters, its directors, its key managerial personnel or its senior management (DRHP p.42).

11Who already owns it

Source: DRHP p.75, DRHP p.77. There are 92,71,600 shares before the issue, all held by the promoters and promoter group (DRHP p.77).

There is no private equity, no venture capital, no institutional holding, no employee stock option scheme and no convertible security outstanding (DRHP p.78). The company has made no public issue and no rights issue since incorporation (DRHP p.77). No outside investor has put money in at any price, so the document carries no primary or secondary transaction price against which an issue price can be compared other than the ₹10 subscription of 2019 (DRHP p.68).

The shareholding after the issue is blank ([●]) throughout, because the issue price is not set (DRHP p.76).

12What changed just before the IPO

• August 7, 2019: the company was incorporated, with 1,78,300 shares subscribed at ₹10 by the four promoters (DRHP p.57, DRHP p.68).
• FY24: revenue of ₹6,769.81 lakh at a gross margin of 4.18%, by our arithmetic, and an operating cash outflow of ₹84.84 lakh (DRHP p.52, DRHP p.53).
• FY25: revenue rose 24.2% and gross margin to 7.77%, by our arithmetic; inventories appear for the first time, at ₹112.56 lakh (DRHP p.52, DRHP p.51).
• FY25: a loan from Olpad International of ₹143.40 lakh was repaid in full (DRHP p.56).
• FY26: revenue rose 87.5% to ₹15,756.32 lakh and profit 162.3% to ₹837.52 lakh, by our arithmetic (DRHP p.52).
• FY26: inventories rose to ₹817.23 lakh and other non-current assets from ₹6.97 lakh to ₹176.52 lakh (DRHP p.51).
• FY26: remuneration to each of the four promoter directors rose from ₹2.50 lakh to ₹21.08 lakh, and rent began to be paid to two related individuals (DRHP p.55).
• FY26: the debtor balance of CDC Foods Private Limited, ₹31.74 lakh, was cleared (DRHP p.56).
• March 30, 2026: bonus issue of 44,57,500 shares, twenty-five for one (DRHP p.68).
• May 21 and June 10, 2026: the company became a public company and was renamed Olpad Aqua Limited (DRHP p.57).
• June 11, 2026: the statutory auditor changed from Parth Ashok Shah to Agarwal R C & Co., the reason given being pre-occupation in other assignments (DRHP p.59).
• August 1, 2026: bonus issue of 46,35,800 shares, one for one, including one share each to three promoter group members (DRHP p.68).

13Capacity and expansion

There is no plant to describe. The company states that it operates an asset-light model in farming and processing: it uses the farms of the farmers in its network to cultivate shrimp to its requirements, and sends shrimp that is not sold fresh to a contract processor who freezes it to the specifications agreed with the customer (DRHP p.113).

Source: as cited. The expansion the issue funds is therefore not capacity but the ability to take in more harvest and carry more stock: ₹3,200.00 lakh of working capital against current assets of ₹1,659.84 lakh today (DRHP p.79, DRHP p.51).

The prospectus does not state how many farmers are in the network, how many acres they farm, how many tonnes of shrimp the company handled in any year, or the capacity of the contract processor it relies on.

14Market size and industry structure

As claimed: the prospectus carries an industry chapter on shrimp aquaculture and export markets, describing applications across international export trade, global foodservice and hospitality, retail chains and supermarkets (AP p.2, DRHP p.96). It does not, in the pages read, attribute a market size to a named commissioned report with a date, so none is repeated here.

The part that is addressable: black tiger shrimp grown in South Gujarat, sold fresh in India and frozen for domestic and export buyers, in the grades the prospectus lists: unprocessed fresh raw black tiger shrimp, raw head-on and shell-on frozen, raw headless shell-on block frozen, raw frozen semi-individually quick frozen head-on, and frozen headless shell-on easy-peel individually quick frozen (AP p.2).

What the company is today: revenue of ₹15,756.32 lakh, four branches, 27 employees, no farm and no plant (DRHP p.52, AP p.2, DRHP p.127, DRHP p.113).

Structure, as far as the document supports it: there are no long-term procurement arrangements with farmers, who may take the harvest to processors, exporters, traders or commission agents in the same catchment on better terms (DRHP p.27). Where memoranda of understanding with buyers exist, the prospectus states that they carry no committed or assured quantity and that pricing is negotiated purchase order by purchase order at prevailing market rates (DRHP p.25). The product is perishable and the crop seasonal, so procurement cost moves with the season and the market (DRHP p.25). Export buyers operate in markets with stringent food safety and traceability requirements (DRHP p.113).

15Competitive position

The prospectus does not print a comparison of accounting ratios against named listed peers in the pages read, so this study sets none out; going outside the offer document for one is not what this format does.

What the document offers as the basis on which the company competes: a position in the network at both ends, supplying inputs on credit and taking the harvest, which it says gives it access to farms it does not own; four branches across Surat, Navsari and Valsad; a cold chain from farm to grading; and a contract processing arrangement that gives it frozen product without owning a plant (AP p.2, DRHP p.113).

What it does not show: the number of farmers in the network, the share of any farmer's harvest it takes, repeat rates with buyers, or any measure of market share. The asset-light model cuts both ways in the document's own telling: the company depends on farms it does not control and on a processor it does not own (DRHP p.113, DRHP p.27). The input business that anchors the farmer relationship has grown only 19.30% in three years while revenue grew 132.8%, by our arithmetic (DRHP p.32, DRHP p.52).

16Peers the company named

Peers named in the offer document: none appear in the pages of the basis for the issue price read for this study (DRHP p.86).

Because no peer set is set out at this stage, there is no peer price to earnings ratio and no peer return on net worth to set against the company's own. Its own figures are earnings per share of ₹9.03 for FY26, against ₹3.44 in FY25 and ₹0.77 in FY24, on a share count that changed twice through bonus issues during FY26 and after it (DRHP p.52, DRHP p.68).

A reader should note what the document does not contain as much as what it does: there is no outside investor, no primary or secondary transaction at any price other than the ₹10 subscription of 2019, and no listed comparison, so the basis for the issue price will rest on the company's own figures when the band is fixed (DRHP p.68, DRHP p.86).

17Risks, in plain words

Farmers are not contracted: there are no long-term supply agreements with any farmer, and the harvest is offered consignment by consignment (DRHP p.27) → the supply the whole business rests on can go elsewhere → farmers may take the harvest to processors, exporters, traders or commission agents in the same catchment, including on better terms (DRHP p.27).

Customers: ten customers were 88.40% of FY26 revenue and the largest 29.26% (DRHP p.24) → losing one buyer removes a visible share of revenue → where memoranda of understanding exist they carry no committed quantity and price is set order by order (DRHP p.25).

Thin margin on a large turnover: the gross margin was 9.66% in FY26 and 4.18% two years earlier, by our arithmetic (DRHP p.52) → a small move in the farm-gate price or the selling price moves the profit a long way → cost of goods sold was ₹14,233.81 lakh against revenue of ₹15,756.32 lakh (DRHP p.52).

Perishable stock: inventories went from nil to ₹817.23 lakh in two years (DRHP p.51) → shrimp held is shrimp at risk of grading down or spoiling → that build absorbed ₹704.67 lakh of cash in FY26 (DRHP p.53).

Credit to farmers: farming inputs go out largely on seasonal credit (DRHP p.32) → money is advanced before any harvest exists → the input business itself is only about 2.5% of revenue, by our arithmetic, so the credit supports the buying relationship rather than earning its own return (DRHP p.32, DRHP p.52).

Dependence on one processor: shrimp not sold fresh is frozen by a third-party contract processor (DRHP p.113) → a stoppage there closes the frozen and export channel → the company owns no processing facility of its own (DRHP p.113).

Small organisation for the turnover: 27 permanent employees handled revenue of ₹15,756.32 lakh in FY26 (DRHP p.127, DRHP p.52) → the business depends on a handful of people and on the four promoters, who are all directors → employee cost was 1.47% of revenue (DRHP p.30).

Issue-specific: the whole of the proceeds goes to working capital, so there is no asset at the end of it, and the company has no listed peer comparison and no outside investor to price against (DRHP p.79, DRHP p.68).

18Litigation and regulatory matters

There is none to report. The prospectus states that, as at its date, there are no outstanding legal proceedings involving the company, its promoters, its directors, its key managerial personnel or its senior management personnel that require disclosure under its materiality policy (DRHP p.42).

It also reports no contingent liabilities and no commitments at March 31, 2026, March 31, 2025 or March 31, 2024 (DRHP p.54).

A reader should take that at face value but note its context: the company was incorporated in 2019, became a public company in June 2026, and operates without borrowings, so the usual sources of tax, lender and contract disputes have had less time and less scope to arise (DRHP p.57, DRHP p.51).

19Related-party transactions

Source: DRHP p.55, DRHP p.56, and our arithmetic in adding the four directors' lines. All related-party balances were nil at March 31, 2026 (DRHP p.56).

What changed: remuneration to the promoter directors went from ₹2.50 lakh each to ₹21.08 lakh each in FY26 (DRHP p.55). Rent to two related individuals begins in FY26 (DRHP p.55). The loan from Olpad International, ₹217.53 lakh at the start of FY24, was cleared during FY25 (DRHP p.56). The receivable from CDC Foods Private Limited, ₹32.08 lakh at March 2024, was cleared during FY26 (DRHP p.56).

20What the offer document does not say

• The number of farmers in the network is not disclosed (DRHP p.27).
• Tonnes bought, processed or sold, and realisation per kilogram, are not disclosed, so growth cannot be split into volume and price (DRHP p.52).
• No customer and no supplier is named in the concentration tables (DRHP p.24, DRHP p.25).
• The split of receivables between farmers, who owe for inputs, and buyers, who owe for shrimp, is not given (DRHP p.51).
• What the ₹817.23 lakh of inventory consists of, and how it is valued, is not broken down in the pages read (DRHP p.51).
• The contract processor is not named and its capacity is not stated (DRHP p.113).
• The split of revenue between fresh, frozen and export channels is not given (AP p.2).
• No comparison with named listed peers is set out at this stage (DRHP p.86).
• The price band, the bid lot and the rupee size of the issue are blank at this stage (DRHP p.79).

21Five questions for management

1. How many farmers were in the network in FY24, FY25 and FY26, and what share of each year's purchases came from the ten largest (DRHP p.27)?
2. How many tonnes of shrimp were bought and sold in each of the three years, and at what average farm-gate and selling price (DRHP p.52)?
3. What does the ₹817.23 lakh of inventory at March 2026 consist of, where is it held, and on what basis is it valued (DRHP p.51)?
4. Of the ₹372.32 lakh of receivables at March 2026, how much is owed by farmers against inputs supplied on credit, and what is the recovery record on that credit (DRHP p.51, DRHP p.32)?
5. What share of FY26 revenue came from fresh sales, from frozen sales in India and from exports, and what is the margin on each (AP p.2)?

2Sources and cited facts

This study was read from 2 documents the company filed. The 127 figures it cites are listed under the document each came from, with the page and the sentence as printed.