Tonbo Imaging Closes 62 Percent Above IPO Price on Falling Profit
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Tonbo Imaging Closes 62 Percent Above IPO Price on Falling Profit
The founders sold ₹137.2 crore of an all-secondary ₹852 crore issue, in a year when revenue dropped 22.7 percent and the first quarter of FY27 ended in a loss.
Tonbo Imaging India shares listed at ₹1,162 on the BSE on Oct. 23, a 66 percent premium to the ₹700 issue price, and closed the day at ₹1,133.65, about 62 percent above it. The defense-electronics maker made its debut on the strength of an issue subscribed 135.9 times, a year in which profit fell about 30 percent and a first quarter that ended in a loss.
Inc42's listing report put the NSE listing at ₹1,160 and the intraday high at ₹1,209.85 on the BSE, a 72.84 percent gain, before the stock gave back some ground. The close was 2.44 percent below the listing price on the BSE.
A sale by existing holders, not a raise
The issue was ₹852 crore and entirely an offer for sale, about 1.22 crore shares, so Tonbo received none of the proceeds, according to Inc42 and to Groww's IPO terms page. Bidding ran Oct. 15 to Oct. 19 at a ₹665 to ₹700 price band. Anchor investors put in ₹255.4 crore at ₹700 across 43 funds, including SBI Mutual Fund, Goldman Sachs, BlackRock and WhiteOak Capital, Inc42 reported.
Three cofounders sold: Arvind Lakshmikumar, Ankit Kumar and Cecilia D'Souza took ₹137.2 crore between them, with Lakshmikumar receiving ₹80.5 crore. That is about 16 percent of the issue. Neither source names the sellers of the remaining ₹715 crore or their prior holdings, which a reader would need to judge who exited and at what cost.
FY26 profit fell while the price rose
Operating revenue for the year to March 2026 was ₹362.6 crore, down 22.7 percent from ₹469.1 crore, and net profit was ₹50.8 crore against ₹72.8 crore, Inc42 reported. It attributed the revenue decline to delays in international programmes that pushed deliveries into FY27.
| Period | Revenue (₹ crore) | EBITDA (₹ crore) | Net profit (₹ crore) |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY25 | 469.08 | 139.06 | 72.76 |
| FY26 | 362.65 | 104.62 | 50.89 |
| Quarter to June 30, 2026 | 36.01 | (13.04) | (17.74) |
Source: Groww's summary of the offer document.
The first quarter of FY27 is the problem for the deliveries-slipped explanation. Revenue was ₹36 crore, about a tenth of the FY26 total, and the company lost ₹17.7 crore. The quarter shows no sign of the delayed deliveries. They may land later in the year, but they are not in the numbers yet.
The market capitalisation at the BSE listing price was ₹6,656.18 crore, per Inc42, or about ₹4,010 crore at the ₹700 issue price by our arithmetic. Against FY26 profit of ₹50.8 crore, that is roughly 79 times earnings at issue and about 128 times at the BSE close of ₹6,493.79 crore.
- Issue price700 ₹
- BSE close1133.65 ₹
- BSE listing1162 ₹
- BSE intraday high1209.85 ₹
Source: Inc42, Oct. 23, 2026 (BSE prices)
What Tonbo sells, and who builds it
Tonbo makes thermal imaging systems, weapon sights, fire-control systems and missile seekers, Inc42 reported. Groww's summary says it had deployed more than 28,000 systems across 24 countries as of June 30, 2026, and that its electro-optical and infrared products are not subject to US ITAR export rules, the American arms-trade controls. Inc42 says manufacturing is outsourced to Kaynes Technology and Avalon Technology, and that the founders bought the business out of Sarnoff Corporation in 2012. Groww dates its incorporation to 2003.
A first-day premium does not settle the price. Zetwerk listed 5 percent up and closed 8 percent below its issue price, and Myntra's FY26 filing showed a ₹582 crore loss, so Indian investors are pricing very different earnings quality on the same exchanges. Tonbo's anchor lock-in dates were not in either source. The next dated event is its next quarterly result, which will show whether the deferred deliveries arrived.
Sources
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