New Delhi, 15 May (H.S.): Advertising services company Simka Advertising’s shares made their stock‑market debut today at a steep discount, leaving its IPO investors disappointed. Under the public issue, the company’s shares were issued at ₹183 apiece. On the NSE’s SME platform, the stock was listed at ₹156, implying a 15‑per‑cent discount to the issue price.

After listing, intense selling pressure set in, pushing the share down to its lower circuit level of ₹148.20. Thereafter, buyers picked up the stock, driving it up to its upper circuit mark of ₹163.80. However, selling re‑emerged once again, causing the upper circuit to break as well. After trading up to 1:00 pm, the scrip was circling at ₹162.95. As a result, IPO investors were left with a notional loss of ₹20.05 per share, or about 10.96 per cent, on the day’s trading so far.

Simka Advertising’s ₹58.04 crore IPO was open for subscription from May 8 to May 12. The issue received an enthusiastic response from investors, leading to an overall subscription of 80.88 times. The portion reserved for Qualified Institutional Buyers (QIBs) was subscribed 101.08 times, while the Non‑Institutional Investors (NII) tranche attracted 81.54 times subscription. The retail investor segment, too, was oversubscribed by 70.90 times.

Under the IPO, 3,171,600 fresh equity shares of ₹10 face value each were issued. The proceeds from the issue will be used by the company to purchase and install LED screens, meet working‑capital requirements, and serve general corporate purposes.

Moving to the company’s financials, according to the claims made in the Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) filed with the market regulator SEBI, Simka has shown a steady improvement in its financial health. In the financial year 2022‑23, the company reported a net profit of ₹1.57 crore, which rose to ₹5.78 crore in FY 2023‑24 and further jumped to ₹9.98 crore in FY 2024‑25. In the then‑current financial year 2025‑26, between April 1 and December 31, 2025, the company had already earned a net profit of ₹10.68 crore.

The company also recorded strong growth in revenue during this period. In FY 2022‑23, its total revenue stood at ₹11.96 crore, which increased to ₹49.31 crore in FY 2023‑24 and further surged to ₹75.09 crore in FY 2024‑25. Between April 1 and December 31, 2025, under FY 2025‑26, the company had generated revenues of ₹78.16 crore. The company currently has no outstanding debt. It carried a debt of ₹28 lakh in the previous financial year 2024‑25, which has now been fully repaid. In the two earlier fiscal years, 2023‑24 and 2022‑23, the company was also entirely debt‑free.

Reserves and surplus at the firm have also grown significantly over this period. In FY 2022‑23, reserves and surplus were at ₹1.57 crore, which rose to ₹7.34 crore in FY 2023‑24 and further climbed to ₹17.32 crore in FY 2024‑25. Between April 1 and December 31, 2025, reserves and surplus reached ₹19.25 crore. Similarly, the company’s EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortisation) stood at ₹2.11 crore in FY 2022‑23, rose to ₹7.72 crore in FY 2023‑24 and reached ₹13.49 crore in FY 2024‑25. During April 1–December 31, 2025, under FY 2025‑26, the EBITDA level was ₹14.37 crore.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar