Driven by the company is currently loss-making, micro-cap size, which brings thin liquidity.
In simple words: The company is currently losing money, 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, 6:05 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.
The 60-second version of Camlin Fine Sciences Limited — what it does, how it earns, and who it competes with, before any of the numbers below.
What does this company do?
Camlin Fine Sciences Limited, together with its subsidiaries, research, develops, manufactures, and markets specialty chemicals, ingredients, and additive blend products in India and internationally.
IndustrySpecialty Chemicals
SectorBasic Materials
Employees674
Annual revenue₹1,711 Cr
How does it make money?
Turns over ₹1,711 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹2 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹8 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 674 employees supports ₹2.54 Cr of revenue a year, the signature of a capital- or asset-led business.
EBITDA margin7.6%
Net margin1.6%
Revenue / employee₹2.54 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 2.5% 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.
ROCE2.5%
ROE2.7%
Peer median ROE22.3%
What is the outlook?
2 analysts covering the stock expect revenue to grow about 10.7% and earnings to grow about 103.8% in the year to 2028. These are estimates by people who follow the company, not a forecast for the wider industry.
Est. revenue growth+10.7%
Est. earnings growth+103.8%
Analysts2
What has been driving growth?
Profit has moved mainly because margins changed, not because the business sold much more. Over 3 years revenue moved +2% while net margin moved -48% 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+2%
Margin effect-48%
DalalBaazaar Score
37/ 100
Weak
Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.
✗ Revenue CAGR of only 0.8% — barely ahead of inflation
✗ Profit has declined at 19.1% a year
Quality vs. Valuation
Company Quality
36/ 100
Weak
How good the business is, ignoring the share price entirely.
vs
Valuation
31/ 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
1.77x
EV/EBITDA
18.9x
PEG
—
Dividend Yield
None
What's Good / What's Bad
🟢 What's Going Well2
Debt is being paid down
Total debt is down 10% over 3 years.
Cash flow has turned positive
Free cash flow moved from negative to positive over 3 years.
🔴 What Needs Attention4
Margins are compressing
EBITDA margin has slipped from 11.8% to 7.6% over 3 years.
Return on equity is falling
ROE has dropped from 6.4% to 2.7% — each rupee of shareholder capital earns less than it did.
Return on capital is falling
ROCE has declined from 9.6% to 2.5% — often a sign of competition or overexpansion.
Receivables growing faster than sales
Receivables are up 22% against revenue growth of 2% — customers are taking longer to pay.
Red Flags
5 items require attention · 1 high · 4 watch
🔴Thin interest coverageFinancial
Operating profit covers interest only 0.5x — little room if earnings dip.
🟡Interest coverage is deterioratingFinancial
Cover has fallen from 1.9x to 0.5x.
🟡Profit is decliningFinancial
Net profit is down 47% over 3 years.
🟡Margins are compressingFinancial
EBITDA margin is down 4.2 points over 3 years.
🟡Receivables growing faster than salesFinancial
Receivables up 22% against revenue up 2% — sales are being booked faster than they are collected.
Investment Thesis
🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?
No clear supporting case emerges from the available numbers.
🔴 Bear CaseWhat could go wrong?
Margins are being competed away
EBITDA margin has fallen from 11.8% to 7.6%. If the trend continues, profit falls even on flat sales — and margin decline rarely reverses quickly.
The debt load needs earnings to hold up
Debt is 5.5x EBITDA. At that level a downturn in earnings turns a manageable balance sheet into a refinancing problem, and lenders get paid before shareholders.
Sales are being booked faster than collected
Receivables are up 22% against revenue up 2%. 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 0.8% 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.
Returns on shareholder capital are falling
ROE has dropped from 6.4% to 2.7%. 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.
🟡 Key Things to WatchMeasurable tripwires, set against where this company stands today
1EBITDA margin holds above 6%✓ 7.6%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
2Debt / EBITDA falls below 3x✗ 5.5x
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✗ 0.5x
How much operating profit can fall before interest stops being comfortably covered.
4Revenue growth stays above 4% a year✗ 0.8% CAGR
Latest reported year was 22.7%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.
5Free cash flow remains positive✓ ₹25 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
Investment Checklist
8 / 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
3 good · 4 neutral · 4 weak
Market Cap
₹1,840 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
1.77x
Fair
Moderate premium to the company's book value
EPS (TTM)
₹-3
Loss-making
Negative earnings per share — the business is losing money
ROE
2.7%
Weak
Weak capital efficiency
ROCE
2.5%
Weak
Low return on total capital employed
Debt/Equity
0.72x
Moderate
Moderate leverage
Revenue Growth (YoY)
22.7%
Healthy
Healthy top-line growth
Profit Growth (YoY)
119.9%
Healthy
Profits growing at a healthy clip
Dividend Yield
None
None
No dividend yield reported — usually means no payout, but verify if one was recently initiated
Free Cash Flow
₹25 Cr
Cash generative
Generates cash even after funding its capex
More Metrics
CMP
₹95.8
P/E (Forward)
11.8x
Operating Margin
-0.3%
Weak
Thin margins leave little room for error
Net Margin
0.3%
Weak
Very little revenue reaches the bottom line
Current Ratio
1.27
Comfortable
Healthy short-term liquidity
Beta (vs Nifty)
0.68
Defensive
Steadier than the market
52W Range Position
7%
Near low
Near its 52-week low
Technical Snapshot
SMA 20 / SMA 50
93.6 / 101.9
Bearish alignment (short < long)
Price vs SMA 200
Below
Long-term downtrend
RSI (14)
45.8
Neutral momentum
Financial Trend (4-Year)
Metric
FY23
FY24
FY25
FY26
3Y CAGR
Revenue
₹1,671 Cr
₹1,436 Cr
₹1,598 Cr
₹1,711 Cr
+0.8%
EBITDA
₹197 Cr
₹227 Cr
₹215 Cr
₹130 Cr
-13.0%
EBITDA Margin
11.8%
15.8%
13.5%
7.6%
—
PAT (Net Profit)
₹52 Cr
-₹93 Cr
-₹139 Cr
₹28 Cr
-19.1%
EPS
₹3.33
₹-5.49
₹-8.03
₹1.44
-24.4%
ROE
6.4%
-10.7%
-15.4%
2.7%
—
ROCE
9.6%
10.3%
11.8%
2.5%
—
Total Debt
₹801 Cr
₹683 Cr
₹652 Cr
₹720 Cr
-3.5%
Free Cash Flow
-₹93 Cr
₹78 Cr
-₹19 Cr
₹25 Cr
—
🟡 Revenue has been broadly flat over 3 years (0.8% a year).
🔴 EBITDA has shrunk at 13.0% a year over 3 years.
🔴 EBITDA Margin has fallen from 11.8% to 7.6% over 3 years (-4.2 pts).
🔴 PAT (Net Profit) has shrunk at 19.1% a year over 3 years.
🔴 EPS has shrunk at 24.4% a year over 3 years.
🔴 ROE has fallen from 6.4% to 2.7% over 3 years (-3.7 pts).
🔴 ROCE has fallen from 9.6% to 2.5% over 3 years (-7.1 pts).
🟢 Total Debt has shrunk at 3.5% a year over 3 years.
🟢 Free Cash Flow has turned positive, from -₹93 Cr to ₹25 Cr.
🟡Mixed / dependsAcquisitions change the balance sheet before they change the earnings. Look at what was paid, how it was funded, and whether debt rose.
🔴Potentially negativeRegulatory and legal actions carry a financial cost and a governance question. The second usually matters more than the first.
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
🔴Business QualityWeak5.9/20
🟡Financial HealthAdequate11.7/20
🔴GrowthWeak5/20
🔴ProfitabilityWeak4.6/15
🔴ValuationDemanding5.1/15
🔴RiskHigh4.4/10
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. 1 high-severity red flag sits above this conclusion and should be read first.
