Is GNG Electronics' IPO a risky bet for investors amid rising working capital needs?

ET Intelligence Group: GNG Electronics, a refurbisher of computers and handheld devices, plans to raise ₹400 crore through fresh issue to partially repay debt and ₹60 crore through an offer for sale. The promoter stake will fall to 78.7% after the IPO from 95%. The company has refurbishing facilities in India, UAE and the US. It earns 75% revenue from overseas markets and operates at a return on equity (RoE) of over 30%. However, the business requires significant working capital due to time lag between purchase of devices to be refurbished and sale of inventory. Net working capital days increased to 68 in FY25 from 42 in FY24 and 61 in FY23. Given these factors, investors with a high risk appetite may consider the IPO for long term.

Business
GNG is the country's largest refurbisher of laptops and desktops among other devices and operates under the brand Electronics Bazaar. Its volume of refurbished devices increased to 5.9 lakh in FY25 from 2.5 lakh in FY23 while the number of procurement partners rose to 557 from 265 during the period. Laptops contributed 75.6% to the FY25 revenue while the rest was from sale of desktops, tablets, servers, smartphones and other devices. It is present across 38 countries with 4,154 touchpoints as of March 2025.


Financials
Revenue and net profit more than doubled to ₹1,411 crore and ₹69 crore in FY25 from ₹659.5 crore and ₹32.4 crore in FY23 respectively. Operating margin before depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda margin) improved to 8.9% from 7.6% during the period. The working capital increased by nearly two and a half times between FY23 and FY25 to ₹261 crore.

Valuation
The company demands a price-earnings multiple of upto 39 based on FY25 earnings and post-IPO equity. It has no direct main-board listed peer.