Aztec Fluids & Machinery Limited

Industrials — Specialty Industrial Machinery · BSE

₹110.00+₹7.75 (+7.58%)

DalalBaazaar Score

58 / 100

🟡 Moderate

Verdict

NEUTRAL

Risk

Moderate

Driven by negative free cash flow, micro-cap size, which brings thin liquidity.

In simple words: Strong business and financial position, with modest growth. Cash generation is currently the main factor to watch.

Decision support, not a buy or sell call.

As of 18 Oct 2026, 7:02 pm

Understanding the Business

Company site ↗

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

What does this company do?

Aztec Fluids & Machinery Limited manufactures and sells printers in India. The company offers continuous inkjet, thermal transfer overprint, drop on demand, and laser printers. It is also involved in trading of inks, as well as provides makeup and wash.

IndustrySpecialty Industrial Machinery

SectorIndustrials

Employees122

Annual revenue₹96 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹96 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹8 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹14 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 122 employees supports ₹79.1 lakh of revenue a year, the signature of a people-led business.

Revenue / employee₹79.1 lakh

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are SIEMENS LTD, ABB INDIA LIMITED, LARSEN & TOUBRO LTD., HAVELLS INDIA LIMITED. 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 19.7% 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 ROE17.1%

What has been driving growth?

Growth has come mainly from selling more, rather than from keeping more of each sale. Over 3 years revenue moved +111% while net margin moved +13% 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+111%

Margin effect+13%

DalalBaazaar Score

58/ 100

Moderate

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✓ Beta of 0.58 — historically steadier than the index
✗ Micro Cap: thinner liquidity and sharper drawdowns are normal
✗ Negative free cash flow means dependence on external funding

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

59/ 100

Average

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

Valuation

70/ 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

20.2x

3Y Median

21.1x

31 monthly readings · mean 26.5x · range 14.2x–47.6x

Sector Median

66.2x

median of 4 sector peers

🟡Currently trading close to its 3y median of 21.1x — the market is paying about what it usually pays for this company.

🟢Against its sector it trades 70% below the peer median of 66.2x.

vs. its own history

Fair

21.1x median over 31 months · -4%

vs. sector peers

Cheap

66.2x median of 4 peers · -70%

vs. generic bands

Fair

15x–35x

EV/EBITDA

12.2x

PEG

0.60

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well4

Margins are improving
EBITDA margin is up from 10.1% to 14.1% over 3 years.
Cash generation is improving
Free cash flow is up 144% over 3 years.
Very low debt
Debt/Equity of 0.29x leaves the balance sheet with plenty of headroom.
Consistently profitable
Profitable in every one of the last 4 reported years.

🔴 What Needs Attention2

Return on equity is falling
ROE has dropped from 25.1% to 12.9% — each rupee of shareholder capital earns less than it did.
Return on capital is falling
ROCE has declined from 29.3% to 19.7% — often a sign of competition or overexpansion.

Red Flags

3 items require attention · 2 high · 1 watch

🔴Debt has risen sharplyFinancial
Total debt is up 202% over 3 years, from ₹6 Cr to ₹17 Cr.
🔴Inventory building faster than salesFinancial
Inventory up 1899% against revenue up 111% — stock may not be moving.
🟡Receivables growing faster than salesFinancial
Receivables up 158% against revenue up 111% — sales are being booked faster than they are collected.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Capital compounds at a high rate
ROCE of 19.7% means each rupee reinvested earns well above what capital costs. If the company can keep deploying at this rate, growth creates value rather than just consuming cash.
Margin expansion has further to run
EBITDA margin has risen from 10.1% to 14.1%. If that holds, profit compounds faster than sales and today's multiple looks cheaper in hindsight than it does now.
Cheaper than its peers
It trades 70% 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 ₹2 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?

Sales are being booked faster than collected
Receivables are up 158% against revenue up 111%. If customers keep taking longer to pay, reported profit will not turn into cash — and write-offs follow if some never do.
Returns on shareholder capital are falling
ROE has dropped from 25.1% to 12.9%. Each rupee of equity earns less than it did, so profit growth increasingly depends on raising more capital rather than on the existing base working harder.
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

1Revenue growth stays above 21% a year✓ 28.3% CAGR
Latest reported year was 12.4%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.
2EBITDA margin holds above 12%✓ 14.1%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
3Free cash flow remains positive✓ ₹2 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
4Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x✓ 1.2x
The ratio lenders write covenants against; it survives a small or negative equity base, unlike Debt/Equity.
5ROCE stays above 17%✓ 19.7%
Falling returns on capital are usually competition arriving, and show up here before they reach the margin.

Investment Checklist

7 / 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

4 good · 6 neutral · 1 weak

Market Cap

₹150 Cr

Micro Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

20.2x

Fair

Fairly valued against the generic band

P/B Ratio

2.60x

Fair

Moderate premium to the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹5.45

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

13.8%

Moderate

Moderate capital efficiency

ROCE

19.7%

Strong

Earns comfortably above its likely cost of capital

Debt/Equity

0.29x

Low

Conservative leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

12.4%

Healthy

Healthy top-line growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

3.3%

Modest

Slow profit growth

Dividend Yield

None

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

Free Cash Flow

-₹1 Cr

Cash burning

Spending more cash than the operations bring in

More Metrics

ROA

6.6%

Average

Average asset productivity

Operating Margin

8.7%

Average

Average margins

Net Margin

7.7%

Average

Average bottom-line conversion

Current Ratio

1.41

Comfortable

Healthy short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

0.58

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

60%

Mid-range

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

95.0 / 95.6

Bearish alignment (short < long)

Price vs SMA 200

Above

Long-term uptrend

RSI (14)

73.3

Overbought zone

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY22	FY23	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹46 Cr	₹54 Cr	₹88 Cr	₹96 Cr	+28.3%
EBITDA	₹5 Cr	₹5 Cr	₹12 Cr	₹14 Cr	+43.5%
EBITDA Margin	10.1%	9.8%	13.5%	14.1%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹3 Cr	₹3 Cr	₹8 Cr	₹7 Cr	+33.5%
EPS	₹2.29	₹2.41	₹5.75	—	—
ROE	25.1%	21.3%	15.1%	12.9%	—
ROCE	29.3%	26.2%	22.1%	19.7%	—
Total Debt	₹6 Cr	₹6 Cr	₹14 Cr	₹17 Cr	+44.6%
Free Cash Flow	₹1 Cr	₹3 Cr	-₹0 Cr	₹2 Cr	+34.6%

🟢 Revenue has grown at 28.3% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA has grown at 43.5% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA Margin has risen from 10.1% to 14.1% over 3 years (+4.0 pts).

🟢 PAT (Net Profit) has grown at 33.5% a year over 3 years.

🔴 ROE has fallen from 25.1% to 12.9% over 3 years (-12.3 pts).

🔴 ROCE has fallen from 29.3% to 19.7% over 3 years (-9.6 pts).

🔴 Total Debt has grown at 44.6% a year over 3 years.

🟢 Free Cash Flow has grown at 34.6% a year over 3 years.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹107 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹50 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹0 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

₹9 Cr

Capex

-₹6 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

0.0%

Insider Holding

81.3%

Corporate Actions

Ex-Dividend Date

06 Sept 2024

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
SIEMENS LTD	88.8x	10.5%
ABB INDIA LIMITED	92.6x	19.1%
LARSEN & TOUBRO LTD.	30.1x	15.2%
HAVELLS INDIA LIMITED	43.5x	17.1%

Recent News

1 mixed5 general

AZTEC Share Price rises to Rs 105; market cap Rs 126.3 Cr

Univest, 14 OctPrice move

🟡Mixed / dependsA price move, which is not by itself a change in the business. Worth finding the cause before reading it as either good or bad.

Aztec Fluids reports FY26 revenue of ₹96.53 crore

scanx.trade, 27 May

Aztec Fluids & Machinery Limit Share Price

Upstox, 02 Nov

Aztec Fluids launches AZTRACE digital traceability platform at AGM

scanx.trade, 10 Sept

Aztec Fluids & Machinery reappoints Pulin and Amisha Vaidhya for three years

scanx.trade, 06 Aug

Aztec Fluids and Machinery IPO subscribed over 200 times on final day: Check subscription updates, allotment and listing

Upstox, 14 May

Watch Items

Cross-check against the company's latest quarterly filing / investor presentation before acting.
RSI is in overbought territory — momentum entries here carry more short-term pullback risk.

DalalBaazaar Thesis

StrongGrowth

MiddlingBusiness Quality · Financial Health · Profitability · Valuation

WeakRisk

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. 2 high-severity red flags sit above this conclusion and should be read first.

All 5 tripwires holding · see Key things to watch ↑