Balmer Lawrie Investments Limited

Industrials — Conglomerates · NSE

₹64.85+₹0.09 (+0.14%)

DalalBaazaar Score

61 / 100

🟢 Good

Verdict

NEUTRAL

Risk

High

Driven by high debt relative to equity, micro-cap size, which brings thin liquidity.

In simple words: Reasonable but unspectacular business quality, with modest growth. Debt is the main factor to watch.

Decision support, not a buy or sell call.

As of 18 Oct 2026, 7:46 pm

Understanding the Business

Company site ↗

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

What does this company do?

Balmer Lawrie Investments Limited engages in the non banking financial activities in India.

IndustryConglomerates

SectorIndustrials

Annual revenue₹2,544 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹2,544 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹7 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹15 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation.

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are LARSEN & TOUBRO LTD., SIEMENS LTD, ABB 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?Little sign of one

Returns on capital of 10.3% 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.

Peer median ROE15.2%

What has been driving growth?

Profit has moved mainly because margins changed, not because the business sold much more. Over 3 years revenue moved +15% while net margin moved +40% 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+15%

Margin effect+40%

DalalBaazaar Score

61/ 100

Good

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

• ROCE of 10.3% is adequate but not distinctive
• ROCE has been broadly stable
• EBITDA margin of 14.8% is respectable
✗ Net margin of 6.3% is slim
• Revenue has compounded at 4.7% a year, which is the base these returns are earned on

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

57/ 100

Average

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

Historical Valuation

Current P/E

11.0x

Sector Median

88.8x

median of 3 sector peers

🟢Against its sector it trades 88% below the peer median of 88.8x.

vs. its own history

Not enough price and earnings history

vs. sector peers

Cheap

88.8x median of 3 peers · -88%

vs. generic bands

Cheap

Below 15x

EV/EBITDA

4.3x

PEG

0.64

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well4

Margins are improving
EBITDA margin is up from 10.4% to 14.8% over 3 years.
Cash generation is improving
Free cash flow is up 50% over 3 years.
Return on capital is rising
ROCE has improved from 7.4% to 10.3%.
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

3 items require attention · 2 high · 1 watch

🔴Debt has risen sharplyFinancial
Total debt is up 81% over 3 years, from ₹121 Cr to ₹220 Cr.
🔴High leverageFinancial
Debt/Equity of 9.79x — earnings must service borrowings before shareholders see anything.
🟡Receivables growing faster than salesFinancial
Receivables up 48% against revenue up 15% — sales are being booked faster than they are collected.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Margin expansion has further to run
EBITDA margin has risen from 10.4% to 14.8%. 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 88% below the sector median. Either the market sees a problem the numbers do not show, or the discount closes.
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?

Leverage amplifies any setback
Debt/Equity of 9.79x. Interest is payable whether or not the business has a good year.
Sales are being booked faster than collected
Receivables are up 48% against revenue up 15%. If customers keep taking longer to pay, reported profit will not turn into cash — and write-offs follow if some never do.
Growth barely outpaces inflation
Revenue compounding at 4.7% 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.
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 13%✓ 14.8%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
2Revenue growth stays above 4% a year✓ 4.7% CAGR
Latest reported year was 9.9%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.
3Free cash flow remains positive✓ ₹230 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
4Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x✓ 0.6x
The ratio lenders write covenants against; it survives a small or negative equity base, unlike Debt/Equity.
5ROCE stays above 8%✓ 10.3%
Falling returns on capital are usually competition arriving, and show up here before they reach the margin.

Investment Checklist

6 / 10 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

Price history

Quick Metrics

4 good · 6 neutral · 1 weak

Market Cap

₹1,439 Cr

Micro Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

11.0x

Cheap

Cheap against the generic band

P/B Ratio

1.00x

Reasonable

Reasonable against the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹5.88

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

12.4%

Moderate

Moderate capital efficiency

ROCE

10.3%

Moderate

Moderate return on the capital in the business

Debt/Equity

9.79x

High

High leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

9.9%

Modest

Modest growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

2.0%

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

₹230 Cr

Cash generative

Generates cash even after funding its capex

More Metrics

Operating Margin

12.2%

Average

Average margins

Net Margin

6.3%

Average

Average bottom-line conversion

Current Ratio

2.33

Comfortable

Healthy short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

0.23

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

Near low

Near its 52-week low

Technical Snapshot

RSI (14)

35.0

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹2,217 Cr	₹2,202 Cr	₹2,357 Cr	₹2,544 Cr	+4.7%
EBITDA	₹230 Cr	₹365 Cr	₹329 Cr	₹376 Cr	+17.8%
EBITDA Margin	10.4%	16.6%	14.0%	14.8%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹111 Cr	₹155 Cr	₹172 Cr	₹178 Cr	+17.2%
EPS	₹5	₹6.96	₹7.73	₹8.04	+17.2%
ROE	9.7%	12.7%	12.5%	12.4%	—
ROCE	7.4%	11.8%	10.3%	10.3%	—
Total Debt	₹121 Cr	₹113 Cr	₹106 Cr	₹220 Cr	+22.0%
Free Cash Flow	₹154 Cr	₹228 Cr	₹96 Cr	₹230 Cr	+14.4%

🟢 Revenue has grown at 4.7% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA has grown at 17.8% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA Margin has risen from 10.4% to 14.8% over 3 years (+4.4 pts).

🟢 PAT (Net Profit) has grown at 17.2% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EPS has grown at 17.2% a year over 3 years.

🟢 ROE has risen from 9.7% to 12.4% over 3 years (+2.7 pts).

🟢 ROCE has risen from 7.4% to 10.3% over 3 years (+2.9 pts).

🔴 Total Debt has grown at 22.0% a year over 3 years.

🟢 Free Cash Flow has grown at 14.4% a year over 3 years.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹3,514 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹1,270 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹37 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

₹294 Cr

Capex

-₹64 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

0.1%

Insider Holding

67.9%

Peer Comparison

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

Recent News

2 positive1 mixed3 general

Balmer Lawrie Investments (BLIL.NS) Slips 0.63% to ₹64.51, Holds Above ₹61.28 Support - Call Wall

https://www.siam.in/, 12 Oct

Balmer Lawrie Investments declares ₹2.27 per share final dividend for FY26

scanx.trade, 26 AugCapital return

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

BLIL Stock Price and Chart — NSE:BLIL

TradingView, 08 Apr

Balmer Lawrie Investments Ltd. Peer Comparison – Compare with Others

Value Research, 31 Aug

Balmer Lawrie Investments Ltd Q1 FY27 Results Preview

Univest, 01 JulResults

🟡Mixed / dependsA results event. The figures on this page update once the new statements reach the data feed, which usually lags the announcement.

Dividend Paying Miniratna PSU Stock: Record Date Just 1 Day Away For Rs 2.03; Buy Balmer Lawrie Investments?

Goodreturns, 19 MarCapital return

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

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.

DalalBaazaar Thesis

StrongGrowth · Valuation

MiddlingBusiness Quality · Financial Health · Profitability · Risk

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 ↑