A diagnostic services provider with 16 centres across 7 states opens its Rs 69.04 crore NSE SME Emerge issue on August 12
Pramodini Medicare Ltd. (PML), a provider of radiology, clinical laboratory and nuclear medicine services with 16 diagnostic centres across India, opens for subscription on August 12 with the issue closing on August 14. The company is listing on NSE SME Emerge.
The Business
Pramodini Medicare Ltd. (PML) runs diagnostic centres inside hospitals rather than as standalone chains. This is a subtle but important distinction. Instead of building expensive retail-facing labs and imaging centres from scratch, PML sets up its equipment within existing public and private hospital premises, sharing patient flow with the host institution. It is an asset-light-ish model that leans on someone else’s footfall.
The service basket is broad. On the radiology side, PML offers MRI, CT scans, X-rays, ultrasound with colour doppler, mammography, DEXA scans and interventional radiology. Its clinical laboratory covers haematology, microbiology, immunology, pathology and bio-chemistry. And on the higher-value nuclear medicine side, it offers PET-CT, SPECT and nuclear therapy — services that require heavy capex and specialist reporting, and typically command better margins.
The company operates through four business models — Public Private Partnership with government hospitals and teaching hospitals, private partnerships with private hospitals, strategic partnerships with Government of India PSUs, and standalone private centres. This mix gives it exposure to different customer types and pricing dynamics.
As of the RHP filing date, PML runs 16 diagnostic centres across seven states — Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, West Bengal, Haryana/NCR Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Kerala (yet to commence operations) — spread across 14 cities. It also runs a processing unit and central laboratory in Vijayawada, which handles sample logistics and reporting for the network, along with a 24×7 teleradiology service.
The Indian diagnostics segment is a large and growing market, driven by rising healthcare spending, more insurance coverage, and increasing focus on preventive testing. However, it is also highly competitive and fragmented, with mainboard giants like Dr. Lal Pathlabs, Metropolis and Krsnaa Diagnostics at the top, mid-sized regional chains below, and thousands of standalone labs across every city.
As of March 31, 2026, PML had 161 payroll employees and 18 contract workers — a compact team that reflects the hospital-embedded operating model.
Issue Details
| Particulars | Details |
|---|---|
| Issue Opens | August 12, 2026 |
| Issue Closes | August 14, 2026 |
| Listing | NSE SME Emerge |
| Price Band | Rs 110 – Rs 118 per share |
| Face Value | Rs 10 |
| Issue Size | Rs 69.04 crore |
| Fresh Issue | Rs 63.14 crore (53,50,800 shares) |
| OFS | Rs 5.90 crore (5,00,400 shares) |
| Lot Size | 2,400 shares (multiples of 1,200 thereafter) |
| Min. Retail Investment | Rs 2,83,200 |
| Post-IPO Market Cap | Rs 260.14 crore |
| IPO Constitutes | 26.54% of post-IPO equity |
| BRLM | Smart Horizon Capital Advisors Pvt. Ltd. |
| Registrar | Purva Sharegistry (India) Pvt. Ltd. |
| Market Makers | Shreni Shares Ltd., Rainbow Securities Pvt. Ltd. |
From the fresh proceeds, Rs 45.15 crore is earmarked for capex on purchase of medical equipment, with the balance going to general corporate purposes. This is essentially a capex-funding IPO — new diagnostic centres and heavier imaging equipment.
Post-IPO, paid-up equity moves from Rs 16.69 crore to Rs 22.05 crore.
The promoter and selling stakeholder average cost of acquisition is Rs 4.25, Rs 6.23 and Rs 6.99 per share. This reflects earlier share issuances between Rs 110 and Rs 155 (between March 2023 and August 2023) and a 12-for-1 bonus issue in March 2026.
Financial Performance
| Particulars (Rs cr) | FY24 | FY25 | FY26 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Income | 35.79 | 38.55 | 63.38 |
| PAT | 7.14 | 11.14 | 17.38 |
| PAT Margin | 19.67% | 28.84% | 27.90% |
| RoCE | 31.90% | 36.48% | 34.66% |
Revenue has grown from Rs 35.79 crore in FY24 to Rs 63.38 crore in FY26 — a healthy jump, driven by new centre additions and higher volumes at existing sites. PAT has scaled from Rs 7.14 crore to Rs 17.38 crore in the same period.
The margins are where the story gets interesting. PAT margin jumped from 19.67% in FY24 to 28.84% in FY25 and settled at 27.90% in FY26. RoCE has consistently stayed above 30%. These are outperforming numbers by any diagnostic industry standard — genuinely better than most listed peers.
In a fragmented, competitive segment, delivering sustained PAT margins near 28% is unusual. Sheela Foam-level margins are what mainboard-listed diagnostic peers deliver, and PML is running well above them. Investors will want to understand what is driving this — favourable PPP contracts, higher-margin nuclear medicine mix, low overhead thanks to the hospital-embedded model, or a mix that could revert as competition rises.
Average EPS over three years is Rs 8.15 and average RoNW is 31.29%. At the upper band of Rs 118, the P/E works out to 14.97x on FY26 earnings and 23.37x on FY25 — a moderate gap that suggests the pricing depends less on FY26 being repeatable than in some other recent SME IPOs. The issue is priced at a P/BV of 3.71 on pre-IPO NAV of Rs 31.84 per share. Post-IPO NAV data is missing from the offer documents — a common gap in SME filings that investors should note.
Listed peers Invicta Diagnostics, Krsnaa Diagnostics and Star Imaging trade at P/E multiples of 19.9, 17.8 and 7.37 respectively (as of August 10, 2026) — a wide range, and none is a strict apples-to-apples peer.
Risks to Consider
The FY25 and FY26 PAT margins of 28-29% are the biggest question mark. If listed diagnostic majors with far larger scale, brand and negotiating power can’t sustain margins at those levels, PML’s ability to hold them is the key debate. Any margin normalisation would hit earnings sharply.
Geographic concentration — 16 centres across 7 states — means any disruption at a major site or state-level policy change could hit revenue. Contract concentration on the PPP side means the loss or renegotiation of a large hospital MoU could dent the top line.
Public-sector diagnostic contracts are increasingly awarded through tender processes with aggressive pricing, and private-sector hospital chains are building their own diagnostic capability rather than outsourcing. PML has to navigate both trends.
Nuclear medicine, MRI and CT machines are expensive and depreciate steadily, and Rs 45.15 crore of the fresh issue is going into new equipment. Utilisation on new centres will drive whether the capex pays off.
The picture
Outperforming margins compared to listed diagnostic peers in a fragmented and competitive segment are the biggest concern — investors need to be comfortable that these are structural rather than cyclical or contract-linked. Priced at 14.97x FY26 and 23.37x FY25, the issue looks aggressively priced on average earnings, though not unreasonable on FY26 alone, as per analysts.