AWL Agri Business Limited

Consumer Defensive — Packaged Foods · NSE

₹186.90−₹3.64 (−1.91%)

DalalBaazaar Score

62 / 100

🟢 Good

Verdict

REASONABLE

Risk

Low

Driven by small-cap size, which brings sharper price swings.

In simple words: Strong business and financial position, with both sales and profits growing well. Thin profit margins are the main factor to watch.

Decision support, not a buy or sell call.

As of 18 Oct 2026, 7:47 pm

Understanding the Business

Company site ↗

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

What does this company do?

AWL Agri Business Limited, a fast-moving consumer goods food company, provides kitchen commodities in India and internationally. It operates through Edible Oils, Food & FMCG, and Industry Essentials segments.

IndustryPackaged Foods

SectorConsumer Defensive

Employees2,881

Annual revenue₹74,619 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹74,619 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹1 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹3 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 2,881 employees supports ₹25.90 Cr of revenue a year, the signature of a capital- or asset-led business.

Revenue / employee₹25.90 Cr

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are NESTLE INDIA LIMITED, BRITANNIA INDUSTRIES LTD, TATA CONSUMER PRODUCT LTD, DABUR INDIA LTD. These are the companies its valuation and returns are measured against elsewhere in this report.

Compared side by side in Peers ↓

What is its competitive advantage?Some evidence

ROCE of 15.3% is above what capital typically costs, which suggests some pricing power, though not yet the sustained, wide gap that marks a durable advantage.

Peer median ROE51.0%

What is the outlook?

5 analysts covering the stock expect revenue to grow about 6.6% and earnings to grow about 16.2% in the year to 2028. These are estimates by people who follow the company, not a forecast for the wider industry.

Est. revenue growth+6.6%

Est. earnings growth+16.2%

Analysts5

What has been driving growth?

Sales and margins have both contributed to where profit is now. Over 3 years revenue moved +28% while net margin moved +39% 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+28%

Margin effect+39%

DalalBaazaar Score

62/ 100

Good

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✗ ROE of 10.0% is weak

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

61/ 100

Average

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

Valuation

77/ 100

Cheap

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

A reasonable business at a reasonable price — neither the quality nor the valuation stands out in either direction.

Historical Valuation

Current P/E

20.9x

3Y Median

76.0x

40 monthly readings · mean 109.6x · range 18.9x–317.5x

Sector Median

51.7x

median of 4 sector peers

🟢Current valuation is approximately 73% below its 3y median of 76.0x. Cheaper than its own history, which is worth a reason too: the market may be pricing in something the backward-looking numbers do not show.

🟢Against its sector it trades 60% below the peer median of 51.7x.

vs. its own history

Cheap

76.0x median over 40 months · -73%

vs. sector peers

Cheap

51.7x median of 4 peers · -60%

vs. generic bands

Fair

15x–35x

EV/EBITDA

14.2x

PEG

0.98

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well3

Cash flow has turned positive
Free cash flow moved from negative to positive over 3 years.
Very low debt
Debt/Equity of 0.11x leaves the balance sheet with plenty of headroom.
Consistently profitable
Profitable in every one of the last 4 reported years.

🔴 What Needs Attention0

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

Red Flags

No automated checks triggered

None of the automated financial checks below were triggered on the years of data available. That is not the same as a clean bill of health — see what could not be checked.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Priced below its own history
The stock trades 73% below its own median multiple. If the business performs as it has and simply re-rates back to normal, that gap is return on its own.
Cheaper than its peers
It trades 60% below the sector median. Either the market sees a problem the numbers do not show, or the discount closes.
Self-funding with balance-sheet headroom
Positive free cash flow of ₹3,095 Cr alongside low debt means growth, buybacks or dividends need no outside money — and a downturn can be absorbed rather than refinanced.
Earnings have proved durable
Profitable in every one of the last 4 reported years. Consistency lowers the risk that any single bad year is structural rather than cyclical.

🔴 Bear CaseWhat could go wrong?

The debt load needs earnings to hold up
Debt is 3.8x EBITDA. At that level a downturn in earnings turns a manageable balance sheet into a refinancing problem, and lenders get paid before shareholders.
Earnings are hard to forecast
Profit has swung sharply from year to year, so any single year — good or bad — is a weak guide to the next. Cyclical earnings deserve lower multiples for that reason.
Size brings its own risk
Small 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.

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

1EBITDA margin holds above 1%✓ 2.9%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
2Debt / EBITDA falls below 3x✗ 3.8x
Already stretched, so this is a reduction target rather than a level to hold. Around 3x is where lenders typically start attaching conditions.
3Interest cover stays above 3x✓ 3.6x
How much operating profit can fall before interest stops being comfortably covered.
4Revenue growth stays above 7% a year✓ 8.7% CAGR
Latest reported year was 17.5%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.
5Free cash flow remains positive✓ ₹3,095 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.

Investment Checklist

9 / 12 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
✓ Analyst consensus isn't majority-sell
✗ Short-term technical trend isn't bearish

Price history

Quick Metrics

6 good · 5 neutral · 0 weak

Market Cap

₹24,144 Cr

Small Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

20.9x

Fair

Fairly valued against the generic band

P/B Ratio

2.32x

Fair

Moderate premium to the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹8.94

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

10.0%

Moderate

Moderate capital efficiency

ROCE

15.3%

Strong

Earns comfortably above its likely cost of capital

Debt/Equity

0.11x

Low

Conservative leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

17.5%

Healthy

Healthy top-line growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

47.3%

Healthy

Profits growing at a healthy clip

Dividend Yield

0.54%

Modest

Small cash return — most of the return has to come from the price

Free Cash Flow

₹3,095 Cr

Cash generative

Generates cash even after funding its capex

More Metrics

P/E (Forward)

17.9x

Improving

Below the trailing multiple — the street expects earnings to grow into the price

Operating Margin

2.9%

Weak

Thin margins leave little room for error

Net Margin

1.5%

Weak

Very little revenue reaches the bottom line

Current Ratio

1.26

Comfortable

Healthy short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

-0.15

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

14%

Near low

Near its 52-week low

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

183.5 / 188.3

Bearish alignment (short < long)

Price vs SMA 200

Below

Long-term downtrend

RSI (14)

54.0

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹58,101 Cr	₹51,117 Cr	₹63,567 Cr	₹74,619 Cr	+8.7%
EBITDA	₹890 Cr	₹1,651 Cr	₹2,607 Cr	₹2,157 Cr	+34.3%
EBITDA Margin	1.5%	3.2%	4.1%	2.9%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹582 Cr	₹148 Cr	₹1,225 Cr	₹1,042 Cr	+21.4%
EPS	₹4.48	₹1.14	₹9.43	₹8.05	+21.6%
ROE	7.1%	1.8%	13.0%	10.0%	—
ROCE	13.4%	9.6%	20.2%	15.3%	—
Total Debt	₹8,884 Cr	₹6,808 Cr	₹7,670 Cr	₹8,123 Cr	-2.9%
Free Cash Flow	-₹16 Cr	-₹643 Cr	₹1,154 Cr	₹3,095 Cr	—

🟢 Revenue has grown at 8.7% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA has grown at 34.3% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA Margin has risen from 1.5% to 2.9% over 3 years (+1.4 pts).

🟢 PAT (Net Profit) has grown at 21.4% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EPS has grown at 21.6% a year over 3 years.

🟢 ROE has risen from 7.1% to 10.0% over 3 years (+2.9 pts).

🟢 ROCE has risen from 13.4% to 15.3% over 3 years (+1.9 pts).

🟢 Total Debt has shrunk at 2.9% a year over 3 years.

🟢 Free Cash Flow has turned positive, from -₹16 Cr to ₹3,095 Cr.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹24,759 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹14,315 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹1,677 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

₹3,928 Cr

Capex

-₹833 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

15.0%

Insider Holding

69.2%

Corporate Actions

Dividend Rate

₹1

Ex-Dividend Date

19 Jun 2026

Analyst Consensus

Recommendations

3 Buy · 2 Hold · 1 Sell

Target Price (Mean)

₹269.83

+44.4% vs CMP

Target Range

₹185 – ₹340

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
NESTLE INDIA LIMITED	59.8x	79.9%
BRITANNIA INDUSTRIES LTD	44.1x	51.0%
TATA CONSUMER PRODUCT LTD	59.3x	7.5%
DABUR INDIA LTD	34.7x	17.2%

Recent News

2 mixed4 general

AWL Agri Business Ltd. Share Price Live Today

CNBC TV18, 16 Oct

Analyst Estimates: Here's What Brokers Think Of AWL Agri Business Limited (NSE:AWL) After Its First-Quarter Report

Simply Wall Street, 02 AugAnalyst view

🟡Mixed / dependsBroker commentary — an opinion about the price rather than new information about the business.

Stocks in news: LIC, Trent, AWL Agri Business, SBI, Titan

The Economic Times, 07 Aug

Edible Oil Stocks 2026: Patanjali Foods, AWL Agri Business

Univest, 15 Oct

ICICI Prudential MF acquires additional 1% stake in AWL Agri Business for Rs 234 crore

Moneycontrol.com, 02 Jul

Is AWL Agri Business share price near bottom? Analysts share outlook

Business Standard, 06 MarAnalyst view

🟡Mixed / dependsBroker commentary — an opinion about the price rather than new information about the business.

Watch Items

Cross-check against the company's latest quarterly filing / investor presentation before acting.

DalalBaazaar Thesis

StrongFinancial Health · Growth · Valuation

MiddlingBusiness Quality · Risk

WeakProfitability

Points for each in the Score ↑

Unremarkable in both directions

A reasonable business at a reasonable price. Nothing here is alarming and nothing is compelling, which usually means the decision rests on things this data cannot see — the industry's direction, management's intent, and what else is available to you.

1 of 5 tripwires tripped — Debt / EBITDA falls below 3x · see Key things to watch ↑