Long-term investors can look at Shankara Building Products' IPO

The company is valued at 18 times earnings on a post-IPO basis

Shankara Building Products (Shankara) is a South-based home improvement and building materials retailer. Through its 103 stores across India, the company offers various products, namely cement, structural steel, pipes and tubes, roofing solutions, tiles, sanitary ware and lighting, among others. It also caters to the enterprise and channel segments wherein it sells its products to large end-users such as contractors, dealers and other retailers. However, in recent years, the company has been focussing on ramping up its presence in the higher-margin retail segment — which accounts for 42 per cent of revenues currently. This has also helped margins, which should