Value with Growth · Research Note
Genus Power
Holding horizon · 3–5+ yearsTarget: Excellent · ~3 years
“It is far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price.”
— Warren Buffett
₹308.6
₹9,388.91 Cr
15.86×
4.22×
12.97%
The company that counts the current
Every unit of electricity that reaches a home or a factory is measured by a meter on the wall, and India is in the middle of replacing tens of millions of old dumb meters with new "smart" ones that report usage automatically. Genus Power makes those meters, and installs the systems behind them, for the state electricity boards rolling out the change. It is a simple business — it counts the current and is paid for the counting — standing in front of a once-in-a-generation national upgrade.
The order books show it: sales have compounded around fifty per cent a year over five years, profit far faster, and the return on equity has climbed toward a strong twenty-nine per cent.
Growth at a genuinely fair price
Here is the rare part — the price is modest. At about seventeen times earnings, this is not the dear valuation its growth might command; the market has not yet fully paid up for the smart-meter boom. A fast-growing maker with high and rising returns on capital, available at a mid-teens multiple, is close to the textbook definition of a wonderful-enough business at a fair price.
What to weigh
Munger would insist on the other side of the order book. This is a project-and-tender business: revenue arrives in lumps as government contracts are won and executed, so growth can be uneven, and utility customers pay slowly, tying up working capital. The smart-metering wave is large but finite — a buyer should ask what grows once the meters are installed. And the promoters have trimmed their holding by a tenth over three years, which is worth a second look.
What this asks of you
Hold across several years and let the national meter upgrade carry the order book — that is the thesis, and the price asks little for it. The risk is lumpiness and a tender-driven model that lives on winning the next contract; the comfort is high returns, fast growth and a fair multiple together. Buy it for the rare combination, watch the order inflow and the promoter's stake, and let a structural rollout do the compounding.