ABM International Limited

Basic Materials — Specialty Chemicals · NSE

₹42.50+₹0.97 (+2.34%)

DalalBaazaar Score

40 / 100

🟡 Moderate

Verdict

CAUTION

Risk

High

Driven by the company is currently loss-making, micro-cap size, which brings thin liquidity, falling profits.

In simple words: The company is currently losing money, but sales are shrinking. The direction of profits is the main factor to watch.

Decision support, not a buy or sell call.

As of 18 Oct 2026, 6:09 pm

Caution warranted. Multiple fundamental metrics — flagged in red below — point to either valuation stretch, leverage risk, or weakening profitability. This doesn't mean avoid the stock outright, but it does mean the burden of proof is on the growth story to justify the current price.

Understanding the Business

Company site ↗

The 60-second version of ABM International Limited — what it does, how it earns, and who it competes with, before any of the numbers below.

What does this company do?

ABM International Limited engages in the importing and trading of plastic raw materials in India. The company sells PVC resins, finished leather products, DOP, urea, etc. ABM International Limited was incorporated in 1983 and is based in New Delhi, India.

IndustrySpecialty Chemicals

SectorBasic Materials

Employees7

Annual revenue₹54 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹54 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹-4 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹-3 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 7 employees supports ₹7.78 Cr of revenue a year, the signature of a capital- or asset-led business.

EBITDA margin-3.2%

Net margin-3.9%

Revenue / employee₹7.78 Cr

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are ASIAN PAINTS LIMITED, PIDILITE INDUSTRIES LTD, SRF LTD, UPL LIMITED. These are the companies its valuation and returns are measured against elsewhere in this report.

ASIAN PAINTS LIMITEDP/E 46.9x · ROE 22.3%

PIDILITE INDUSTRIES LTDP/E 57.8x · ROE 24.4%

SRF LTDP/E 33.8x · ROE 15.4%

UPL LIMITEDP/E 21.5x · ROE 6.1%

What is its competitive advantage?Little sign of one

Returns on capital of -17.7% are at or below what the capital likely costs. That is the financial pattern of a business competing largely on price, where advantage has to come from execution rather than position.

ROCE-17.7%

ROE-18.7%

Peer median ROE22.3%

What has been driving growth?

Sales and margins have both contributed to where profit is now. Over 3 years revenue moved -36% while net margin moved -50% relative to itself. What this cannot tell you is which products, customers or geographies did the work — that lives in the segment disclosures of the annual report.

Revenue effect-36%

Margin effect-50%

DalalBaazaar Score

40/ 100

Moderate

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✗ Revenue has contracted at 13.9% a year
✗ Latest-year revenue growth of -26.9% is below the longer-term trend — momentum is fading
✗ Profit fell 57.5% in the latest year

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

39/ 100

Weak

How good the business is, ignoring the share price entirely.

Valuation

29/ 100

Expensive

What you are being asked to pay, ignoring how good the business is.

Weak on business quality and not cheap enough to compensate.

vs. its own history

Not enough price and earnings history

vs. sector peers

Not enough peers with a usable P/E

vs. generic bands

N/A

No P/E — the company is lossmaking

P/E (Trailing)

Not meaningful

P/B

3.28x

EV/EBITDA

—

PEG

—

Dividend Yield

None

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well4

Margins are improving
EBITDA margin is up from -10.9% to -3.2% over 3 years.
Cash flow has turned positive
Free cash flow moved from negative to positive over 3 years.
Return on equity is rising
ROE has improved from -36.8% to -18.7%.
Return on capital is rising
ROCE has improved from -47.5% to -17.7%.

🔴 What Needs Attention0

Nothing stands out as clearly deteriorating on the years of data available.

Red Flags

3 items require attention · 2 high · 1 watch

🔴Thin interest coverageFinancial
Operating profit covers interest only -9.9x — little room if earnings dip.
🔴The company is lossmakingFinancial
Net profit of -₹2 Cr in the latest reported year.
🟡Interest coverage is deterioratingFinancial
Cover has fallen from -8.2x to -9.9x.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Margin expansion has further to run
EBITDA margin has risen from -10.9% to -3.2%. If that holds, profit compounds faster than sales and today's multiple looks cheaper in hindsight than it does now.

🔴 Bear CaseWhat could go wrong?

Size brings its own risk
Micro Cap businesses are thinly traded, so exits are harder in a falling market and single events move the price more than they would for a larger company.
Several serious flags at once
2 high-severity checks triggered. Individually each has an explanation; together they raise the chance that something structural is wrong rather than a one-off.

🟡 Key Things to WatchMeasurable tripwires, set against where this company stands today

1EBITDA margin holds above -5%✓ -3.2%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
2Interest cover stays above 3x✗ -9.9x
How much operating profit can fall before interest stops being comfortably covered.
3Free cash flow remains positive✓ ₹8 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
4ROCE stays above 8%✗ -17.7%
Falling returns on capital are usually competition arriving, and show up here before they reach the margin.

Investment Checklist

5 / 11 checks passed

✗ Strong return on equity (ROE ≥ 15%)
✗ Strong return on capital employed (ROCE ≥ 15%)
✗ Healthy net margin (≥ 10%)
✓ Generates positive free cash flow
✓ Manageable leverage (Debt/Equity < 1.0)
✓ Adequate short-term liquidity (Current Ratio ≥ 1.0)
✗ Revenue growing year-over-year
✗ Profit growing year-over-year
✓ Not trading at an extreme valuation (P/E < 40x)
✓ Not buying right at the 52-week high
✗ Short-term technical trend isn't bearish

Price history

Quick Metrics

1 good · 4 neutral · 6 weak

Market Cap

₹40 Cr

Micro Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

Not meaningful

Loss-making

Earnings are negative, so a P/E multiple can't be read here

P/B Ratio

3.28x

Fair

Moderate premium to the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹-1.23

Loss-making

Negative earnings per share — the business is losing money

ROE

-18.7%

Weak

Weak capital efficiency

ROCE

-17.7%

Weak

Low return on total capital employed

Debt/Equity

0.73x

Moderate

Moderate leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

-26.9%

Shrinking

Sales are contracting

Profit Growth (YoY)

-57.5%

Falling

Profits are shrinking

Dividend Yield

None

No dividend yield reported — usually means no payout, but verify if one was recently initiated

Free Cash Flow

₹8 Cr

Cash generative

Generates cash even after funding its capex

More Metrics

CMP

₹42.5

Operating Margin

6.0%

Average

Average margins

Net Margin

-2.7%

Weak

Very little revenue reaches the bottom line

Current Ratio

1.16

Adequate

Adequate, but no real cushion

Beta (vs Nifty)

0.20

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

22%

Mid-range

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

44.1 / 50.4

Bearish alignment (short < long)

Price vs SMA 200

Below

Long-term downtrend

RSI (14)

34.5

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹85 Cr	₹94 Cr	₹80 Cr	₹54 Cr	-13.9%
EBITDA	-₹9 Cr	-₹4 Cr	-₹2 Cr	-₹2 Cr	—
EBITDA Margin	-10.9%	-4.4%	-2.0%	-3.2%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	-₹7 Cr	-₹3 Cr	-₹1 Cr	-₹2 Cr	—
EPS	₹-7.13	₹-3.63	₹-1.45	₹-2.27	—
ROE	-36.8%	-23.0%	-10.1%	-18.7%	—
ROCE	-47.5%	-27.4%	-12.1%	-17.7%	—
Total Debt	—	₹10 Cr	₹15 Cr	₹8 Cr	—
Free Cash Flow	-₹12 Cr	-₹10 Cr	-₹1 Cr	₹8 Cr	—

🔴 Revenue has shrunk at 13.9% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA Margin has risen from -10.9% to -3.2% over 3 years (+7.7 pts).

🟢 ROE has risen from -36.8% to -18.7% over 3 years (+18.1 pts).

🟢 ROCE has risen from -47.5% to -17.7% over 3 years (+29.7 pts).

🟢 Free Cash Flow has turned positive, from -₹12 Cr to ₹8 Cr.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹24 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹12 Cr

Total Debt

₹8 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹2 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

₹8 Cr

Capex

—

Corporate Actions

Ex-Dividend Date

15 Sept 2016

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
ASIAN PAINTS LIMITED	46.9x	22.3%
PIDILITE INDUSTRIES LTD	57.8x	24.4%
SRF LTD	33.8x	15.4%
UPL LIMITED	21.5x	6.1%

Recent News

6 general

Compare with

Equitymaster, 16 Oct

ABM International Ltd. Peer Comparison – Compare with Others

Value Research, 31 Aug

Momentum Stocks: Zee Media, Mahalaxmi Rubtech, ABM International locked at upper circuits

Moneycontrol.com, 13 Aug

ABM International vs Nifty 50: Share Price Performance Compared

Univest, 07 Sept

Compare R.T.EXPORTS with

Equitymaster, 16 Oct

ABM International Ltd. Key Financial Ratios – Valuation, Profitability & More

Value Research, 31 Aug

Watch Items

Revenue growth is negative (-26.9%) on the latest reported period — check if this is one-off or a trend.
Cross-check against the company's latest quarterly filing / investor presentation before acting.

DalalBaazaar Thesis

🔴Business QualityWeak7.5/20

🟡Financial HealthAdequate11.7/20

🔴GrowthWeak5/20

🔴ProfitabilityWeak5/15

🔴ValuationDemanding5.1/15

🟡RiskModerate5.2/10

Weak on the fundamentals

Poor scores on business quality without a price low enough to compensate. There is no obvious argument for owning this over a stronger company at a similar valuation. 2 high-severity red flags sit above this conclusion and should be read first.

This thesis breaks if

✓EBITDA margin holds above -5%-3.2%
✗Interest cover stays above 3x-9.9x
✓Free cash flow remains positive₹8 Cr
✗ROCE stays above 8%-17.7%