The Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation Limited

Consumer Defensive — Packaged Foods · NSE

₹1,249.50+₹18.30 (+1.49%)

DalalBaazaar Score

67 / 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 modest growth. Nothing obvious stands out as stretched — the usual checks on business quality and management still apply.

Decision support, not a buy or sell call.

As of 18 Oct 2026, 6:59 pm

Understanding the Business

Company site ↗

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

What does this company do?

The Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation Limited engages in the tea and coffee plantations, auto electric components, healthcare, and real estate businesses in India and internationally.

IndustryPackaged Foods

SectorConsumer Defensive

Employees1,742

Annual revenue₹19,241 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹19,241 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹6 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹19 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 1,742 employees supports ₹11.05 Cr of revenue a year, the signature of a capital- or asset-led business.

Revenue / employee₹11.05 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 34.8% 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 has been driving growth?

Profit has moved mainly because margins changed, not because the business sold much more. Over 3 years revenue moved +18% while net margin moved -163% 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+18%

Margin effect-163%

DalalBaazaar Score

67/ 100

Good

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✗ Revenue CAGR of only 5.7% — barely ahead of inflation

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

65/ 100

Good

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

Valuation

88/ 100

Cheap

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

A good business currently available at an undemanding price — the combination this framework is built to look for.

Historical Valuation

Current P/E

6.8x

2Y Median

11.7x

28 monthly readings · mean 15.7x · range 7.0x–31.4x

Sector Median

51.7x

median of 4 sector peers

🟢Current valuation is approximately 42% below its 2y median of 11.7x. 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 87% below the peer median of 51.7x.

vs. its own history

Cheap

11.7x median over 28 months · -42%

vs. sector peers

Cheap

51.7x median of 4 peers · -87%

vs. generic bands

Cheap

Below 15x

EV/EBITDA

2.6x

PEG

0.34

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well7

Margins are improving
EBITDA margin is up from 13.2% to 19.2% over 3 years.
Debt is being paid down
Total debt is down 76% over 3 years.
Cash generation is improving
Free cash flow is up 25% over 3 years.
Return on equity is rising
ROE has improved from -41.6% to 17.6%.
Return on capital is rising
ROCE has improved from 4.5% to 34.8%.
High return on capital employed
ROCE of 34.8% is the mark of a business that converts capital into profit efficiently.
Very low debt
Debt/Equity of 0.17x leaves the balance sheet with plenty of headroom.

🔴 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?

Capital compounds at a high rate
ROCE of 34.8% 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 13.2% to 19.2%. If that holds, profit compounds faster than sales and today's multiple looks cheaper in hindsight than it does now.
Deleveraging frees up earnings
Debt is down 76% over 3 years. Every rupee of interest not paid drops to the bottom line, so profit can grow even if revenue does not.
Priced below its own history
The stock trades 42% 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 87% below the sector median. Either the market sees a problem the numbers do not show, or the discount closes.

🔴 Bear CaseWhat could go wrong?

Growth barely outpaces inflation
Revenue compounding at 5.7% a year is close to the rate prices rise, so the business is gaining little ground in real terms. That leaves the share price dependent on a re-rating rather than on earnings growth.
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 17%✓ 19.2%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
2Revenue growth stays above 4% a year✓ 5.7% CAGR
Latest reported year was 7.8%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.
3Free cash flow remains positive✓ ₹2,186 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
4Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x✓ 0.4x
The ratio lenders write covenants against; it survives a small or negative equity base, unlike Debt/Equity.
5ROCE stays above 32%✓ 34.8%
Falling returns on capital are usually competition arriving, and show up here before they reach the margin.

Investment Checklist

9 / 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

8 good · 3 neutral · 0 weak

Market Cap

₹8,718 Cr

Small Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

6.8x

Cheap

Cheap against the generic band

P/B Ratio

1.24x

Reasonable

Reasonable against the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹184.92

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

17.6%

Strong

Strong capital efficiency

ROCE

34.8%

Strong

Earns comfortably above its likely cost of capital

Debt/Equity

0.17x

Low

Conservative leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

7.8%

Modest

Modest growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

19.7%

Healthy

Profits growing at a healthy clip

Dividend Yield

1.36%

Modest

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

Free Cash Flow

₹2,186 Cr

Cash generative

Generates cash even after funding its capex

More Metrics

P/E (Forward)

3.3x

Improving

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

Operating Margin

15.6%

Good

Healthy core-business profitability

Net Margin

6.4%

Average

Average bottom-line conversion

Current Ratio

1.19

Adequate

Adequate, but no real cushion

Beta (vs Nifty)

0.61

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

Near low

Near its 52-week low

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

1338.2 / 1418.2

Bearish alignment (short < long)

Price vs SMA 200

Below

Long-term downtrend

RSI (14)

15.1

Oversold zone

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹16,303 Cr	₹16,883 Cr	₹17,887 Cr	₹19,241 Cr	+5.7%
EBITDA	₹2,148 Cr	₹3,254 Cr	₹3,468 Cr	₹3,700 Cr	+19.9%
EBITDA Margin	13.2%	19.3%	19.4%	19.2%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	-₹1,676 Cr	₹637 Cr	₹1,123 Cr	₹1,243 Cr	—
EPS	₹-240.22	₹91.19	₹160.9	₹178.1	—
ROE	-41.6%	13.8%	19.9%	17.6%	—
ROCE	4.5%	37.2%	37.1%	34.8%	—
Total Debt	₹6,542 Cr	₹2,161 Cr	₹1,574 Cr	₹1,590 Cr	-37.6%
Free Cash Flow	₹1,751 Cr	₹1,359 Cr	₹1,907 Cr	₹2,186 Cr	+7.7%

🟢 Revenue has grown at 5.7% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA has grown at 19.9% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA Margin has risen from 13.2% to 19.2% over 3 years (+6.1 pts).

🟢 PAT (Net Profit) has turned positive, from -₹1,676 Cr to ₹1,243 Cr.

🟢 EPS has turned positive, from ₹-240.22 to ₹178.1.

🟢 ROE has risen from -41.6% to 17.6% over 3 years (+59.2 pts).

🟢 ROCE has risen from 4.5% to 34.8% over 3 years (+30.2 pts).

🟢 Total Debt has shrunk at 37.6% a year over 3 years.

🟢 Free Cash Flow has grown at 7.7% a year over 3 years.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹14,539 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹4,940 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹704 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

₹2,419 Cr

Capex

-₹233 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

6.8%

Insider Holding

75.2%

Corporate Actions

Dividend Rate

₹17

Ex-Dividend Date

20 Feb 2026

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

1 positive1 mixed4 general

Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation vs Nifty 50 Return Comparison

Univest, 13 Oct

Nusli Wadia sells 2.31% stake in Bombay Burmah to group firm

scanx.trade, 16 Oct

Bombay Burmah Trading shares surge 14% after SC recalls Rs 4,655 crore lease-rent observation

The Economic Times, 27 AugPrice 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.

Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation shares post best day in over a year; here is why

Upstox, 26 Aug

Should You Buy The Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation Limited (NSE:BBTC) For Its Upcoming Dividend?

Simply Wall Street, 16 FebCapital return

🟢Potentially positiveCash or shares returned to holders. A buyback is only good value if the shares were cheap when bought.

Why Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation Share Price is Rising

Equitymaster, 27 Aug

Watch Items

Trading very close to its 52-week low — worth checking whether this reflects a temporary setback or a structural problem.
Cross-check against the company's latest quarterly filing / investor presentation before acting.
RSI is in oversold territory — could mean either a bargain or a stock still falling for good reason. Check the 'why' before assuming reversal.

DalalBaazaar Thesis

StrongBusiness Quality · Financial Health · Profitability · Valuation

MiddlingRisk

WeakGrowth

Points for each in the Score ↑

Attractive on both counts

A good business currently available at an undemanding price — the combination this framework exists to look for. The work left is qualitative: whether the advantage the numbers imply is one you can identify and expect to last.

All 5 tripwires holding · see Key things to watch ↑