Saraswati Saree Depot Ltd Q1FY26 – Sarees, 3 Lakh SKUs & a Margin Blouse Too Tight
1. At a Glance
Saraswati Saree Depot Ltd (NSE: SSDL, BSE: 544230) is the kind of company your local baniya auntie would dream of—3 lakh SKUs of sarees, kurtis, lehengas, blouse pieces, and now even shirt-pant combos for men who want to look festive but still carry pockets. Market cap: ₹345 crore, CMP ₹87 (–44% YoY), P/E 11.2 (cheap compared to textile peers), ROE: 25.2%, ROCE: 28.6%. FY25 revenue ₹628 crore, PAT ₹31 crore, OPM 6.9%.
Quarterly Jun’25: sales ₹145 crore (+11% YoY), PAT ₹6.35 crore (+4%). Stable but not spectacular. Dividend yield 2.6% is like free blouse pieces with a saree—small, but feels good.
2. Introduction
Founded in 1996, Saraswati Saree Depot (SSD) has grown from a single-store wholesale hub to a 235,000 sq. ft. retail and B2B apparel empire. Its Kolhapur store alone accounts for 88% of revenue—so basically, Maharashtra’s textile wholesalers keep the lights on.
The company is a wholesaler-first: selling bulk sarees to retailers across India. But like any self-respecting family business, they are now eyeing the retail game. In June 2025, SSD launched its first 15,000 sq. ft. consumer outlet in Kolhapur, hoping to pull in ₹5–6 crore sales. It’s the equivalent of your local saree shop finally putting up AC and mannequins.
IPO in 2024 raised ₹160 crore—₹104 crore fresh issue for working capital. Good use, since their working capital days doubled in the last two years (from 35 to 71 days). Basically, they fund customers’ weddings before getting paid.
Question: Would you trust a company that has 3 lakh SKUs to actually keep track of your pending blouse delivery?
3. Business Model – WTF Do They Even Do?
SSD is a B2B wholesaler and now small-time retailer of women’s apparel. Core focus: sarees (90% of revenue). They buy from 900+ weavers in Surat, Varanasi, Dharmavaram, Madurai, Kolkata, and Bengaluru, then sell at scale to shopkeepers in Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu.
Their portfolio: sarees (the bread), kurtis & dress materials (the butter), lehengas (the shaadi bonus), and shirt-pant pieces for men (the odd cousin who shows up anyway).
Distribution is centralized: Kolhapur mega-store (185k sq. ft.) plus Ulhasnagar and Ahmednagar branches. Surat facility acquired in Oct 2024 for procurement efficiency.
They also run UTSAV, an annual mega-sales event since 2002 that drives 13–15% of revenue. Imagine Flipkart’s Big Billion Day, but with aunties fighting over Banarasi silk.
And now, SSD wants to diversify into men’s ethnic wear—because why let Manyavar have all the dulha margins?
4. Financials Overview
Source table
Metric
Latest Qtr (Jun’25)
YoY Qtr (Jun’24)
Prev Qtr (Mar’25)
YoY %
QoQ %
Revenue
₹145 Cr
₹130 Cr
₹136 Cr
+11%
+7%
EBITDA
₹9 Cr
₹7.9 Cr
₹9.2 Cr
+14%
–3%
PAT
₹6.35 Cr
₹6.1 Cr
₹7.0 Cr
+4%
–9%
EPS (₹)
1.60
1.84
1.78
–13%
–10%
Commentary: Sarees selling well, profits steady, but margins are stitched tighter than a blouse two sizes small.
5. Valuation Discussion – Fair Value Range Only
P/E Method
EPS (TTM) = ₹7.79. Industry avg. P/E ~29x. Fair value = ₹150–₹180.
EV/EBITDA Method
EV ₹314 Cr, EBITDA ₹48 Cr → EV/EBITDA ~6.5x. Peers trade 10–12x. Fair value = ₹110–₹130.
