Cheelizza Pizza: ₹22.65 Cr in Sales, ₹9.54 Lakh in the Bank

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Cheelizza Pizza India Limited grew revenue 17% in FY26 from ₹19.35 Cr to ₹22.65 Cr and trimmed its EBITDA loss nearly in half. On paper, that's progress. But the cash position tells a very different story: just ₹9.54 lakh across 23 outlets in 4 cities, less than what one store typically brings in during a single month.

The margin squeeze

Raw materials (flour, cheese, packaging) eat roughly 35% of revenue a manageable cost. The real pressure comes after the kitchen:

• Delivery aggregator commissions: ₹3.98 Cr (17.6% of revenue)
• Marketing & advertising: ₹1.67 Cr (7.4%)
• Rent: ₹1.95 Cr
• Power: ₹1.55 Cr
• Salaries: ₹4.57 Cr (20% of revenue)

Roughly a quarter of every rupee earned goes straight to the platforms that bring in the order a structural cost every aggregator-dependent QSR chain in India is wrestling with right now.

FY26 vs FY25 P&L

What the auditors flagged

• Cash losses: ₹2.27 Cr in FY26, on top of ₹4.08 Cr in FY25
• Loan repayments to multiple lenders (Capwise, Incred, Indifi, ICICI) running 30–120 days late through the year
• TDS deducted from salaries between April–August 2025 was deposited with the government only in May 2026 about a year overdue
• ESI dues of ₹11.13 lakh and labour welfare fund dues of ₹28,689 remained unpaid as of the audit data

Negative net worth

Accumulated losses of ₹16.21 Cr have wiped out share capital and premium, leaving total equity at −₹15 lakh as of 31 March 2026. Current liabilities of ₹6.14 Cr sit against current assets of just ₹2.50 Cr a current ratio of 0.41. Strip out the ₹2.56 Cr deferred tax asset (which only has value if the company eventually turns a taxable profit), and net worth falls closer to −₹2.7 Cr.

Who actually financed the year

Operating losses of ₹1.60 Cr (loss before tax adjusted for depreciation and finance cost) explain only part of the ₹5.42 Cr cash outflow from operations. The rest went toward repaying ₹2.84 Cr of short-term borrowings and clearing ₹1.25 Cr of overdue liabilities carried from the prior year. Add ₹0.93 Cr of capex and ₹0.60 Cr locked up as a lien-bound fixed deposit against a working capital facility, and the total funding gap for the year came to roughly ₹6.95 Cr.

The "long-term borrowings" line is the one worth sitting with secured bank loans actually fell to zero during the year. That ₹2.43 Cr came from Managing Director Animesh Lodha personally, who advanced ₹7.27 Cr to the company over FY26 and drew back ₹6.01 Cr, leaving ₹2.47 Cr outstanding. In effect, the promoter's own account functioned as the company's working capital line.

The valuation gap

Cheelizza's pre-IPO shares have recently traded around ₹12–13, down sharply from a 52-week high near ₹78. Even at that lower price, the implied valuation of ~₹135 Cr works out to roughly 6x revenue rich for a business with negative equity and negative EBITDA.

Separately, the company is raising capital via Compulsorily Convertible Preference Shares priced at ₹10,000 each, of which only ₹100 per share has been called and received so far ₹1.82 lakh collected in total as of year-end.

Governance notes

The audit committee, nomination & remuneration committee, and the statutory POSH committee were all constituted only after 31 March 2026. The statutory auditor resigned mid-term. And the AGM polling paper lists a resolution on rights-issue fund utilization that isn't part of the actual notice — worth a closer look for anyone tracking the paper trail.

Bottom line

A 100%-vegetarian QSR chain is a real, underserved category in India, and Cheelizza's ₹98 lakh average revenue per outlet isn't a bad number. But growth alone hasn't fixed the balance sheet it's been financed by promoter loans and a rights issue that went almost entirely toward debt repayment, not expansion. The next 12–18 months hinge on three things: store-level cash profitability, genuine equity capital rather than founder advances, and reduced dependence on aggregator commissions.

Based on Cheelizza Pizza India Limited's FY 2025–26 annual report, audited by APRA & Associates LLP. Not investment advice. Pre-IPO/unlisted shares carry limited liquidity and regulatory oversight.