Captain Pipes Limited

Consumer Cyclical — Auto Parts · BSE

₹7.95−₹0.04 (−0.50%)

DalalBaazaar Score

56 / 100

🟡 Moderate

Verdict

NEUTRAL

Risk

High

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

In simple words: Strong business and financial position, though profits are falling even as sales grow. Cash generation is currently the main factor to watch.

Decision support, not a buy or sell call.

As of 18 Oct 2026, 6:50 pm

Understanding the Business

Company site ↗

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

What does this company do?

Captain Pipes Limited manufactures and sells uPVC pipes and fittings in India.

IndustryAuto Parts

SectorConsumer Cyclical

Employees61

Annual revenue₹78 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹78 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹9 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹17 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 61 employees supports ₹1.27 Cr of revenue a year, the signature of a capital- or asset-led business.

Revenue / employee₹1.27 Cr

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are BOSCH LIMITED, MARUTI SUZUKI INDIA LTD., TVS MOTOR COMPANY LTD, EICHER MOTORS 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 15.1% 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 ROE23.0%

What has been driving growth?

Profit has moved mainly because margins changed, not because the business sold much more. Over 3 years revenue moved -9% while net margin moved +328% 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-9%

Margin effect+328%

DalalBaazaar Score

56/ 100

Moderate

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✓ Beta of 0.09 — historically steadier than the index
✗ Micro Cap: thinner liquidity and sharper drawdowns are normal
✗ Profits have swung sharply from year to year — earnings are hard to forecast
✗ Negative free cash flow means dependence on external funding

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

56/ 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

19.4x

3Y Median

56.4x

40 monthly readings · mean 76.2x · range 17.4x–202.1x

Sector Median

45.7x

median of 4 sector peers

🟢Current valuation is approximately 66% below its 3y median of 56.4x. 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 58% below the peer median of 45.7x.

vs. its own history

Cheap

56.4x median over 40 months · -66%

vs. sector peers

Cheap

45.7x median of 4 peers · -58%

vs. generic bands

Fair

15x–35x

EV/EBITDA

11.3x

PEG

0.34

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well3

Margins are improving
EBITDA margin is up from 4.8% to 17.4% over 3 years.
Return on equity is rising
ROE has improved from 8.9% to 13.7%.
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

4 items require attention · 3 high · 1 watch

🔴Debt has risen sharplyFinancial
Total debt is up 1117% over 3 years, from ₹3 Cr to ₹31 Cr.
🔴Free cash flow negative for 3 yearsFinancial
The business has not covered its capital spending from operations for several years running, which has to be funded externally.
🔴Inventory building faster than salesFinancial
Inventory up 88% against revenue up -9% — stock may not be moving.
🟡Interest coverage is deterioratingFinancial
Cover has fallen from 8.7x to 4.3x.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Margin expansion has further to run
EBITDA margin has risen from 4.8% to 17.4%. If that holds, profit compounds faster than sales and today's multiple looks cheaper in hindsight than it does now.
Priced below its own history
The stock trades 66% 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 58% 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?

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
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
3 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 15%✓ 17.4%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
2Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x✗ 2.3x
The ratio lenders write covenants against; it survives a small or negative equity base, unlike Debt/Equity.
3Free cash flow remains positive✗ -₹7 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
4ROCE stays above 12%✓ 15.1%
Falling returns on capital are usually competition arriving, and show up here before they reach the margin.
5Interest cover stays above 4x✓ 4.3x
How much operating profit can fall before interest stops being comfortably covered.

Investment Checklist

6 / 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

3 good · 6 neutral · 2 weak

Market Cap

₹122 Cr

Micro Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

19.4x

Fair

Fairly valued against the generic band

P/B Ratio

2.39x

Fair

Moderate premium to the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹0.41

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

13.7%

Moderate

Moderate capital efficiency

ROCE

15.1%

Strong

Earns comfortably above its likely cost of capital

Debt/Equity

0.61x

Moderate

Moderate leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

13.1%

Healthy

Healthy top-line growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

-50.0%

Falling

Profits are shrinking

Dividend Yield

None

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

Free Cash Flow

-₹7 Cr

Cash burning

Spending more cash than the operations bring in

More Metrics

Operating Margin

3.1%

Weak

Thin margins leave little room for error

Net Margin

7.8%

Average

Average bottom-line conversion

Current Ratio

1.24

Comfortable

Healthy short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

0.09

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

13%

Near low

Near its 52-week low

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

8.0 / 8.4

Bearish alignment (short < long)

Price vs SMA 200

Below

Long-term downtrend

RSI (14)

45.9

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹86 Cr	₹76 Cr	₹77 Cr	₹78 Cr	-3.1%
EBITDA	₹4 Cr	₹8 Cr	₹13 Cr	₹14 Cr	+48.8%
EBITDA Margin	4.8%	10.2%	16.3%	17.4%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹2 Cr	₹4 Cr	₹9 Cr	₹7 Cr	+57.3%
EPS	₹0.13	₹0.27	₹0.3	₹0.45	+51.3%
ROE	8.9%	15.6%	19.9%	13.7%	—
ROCE	13.7%	22.9%	21.2%	15.1%	—
Total Debt	₹3 Cr	₹6 Cr	₹16 Cr	₹31 Cr	+130.0%
Free Cash Flow	₹2 Cr	-₹0 Cr	-₹13 Cr	-₹7 Cr	—

🔴 Revenue has shrunk at 3.1% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA has grown at 48.8% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA Margin has risen from 4.8% to 17.4% over 3 years (+12.6 pts).

🟢 PAT (Net Profit) has grown at 57.3% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EPS has grown at 51.3% a year over 3 years.

🟢 ROE has risen from 8.9% to 13.7% over 3 years (+4.8 pts).

🟢 ROCE has risen from 13.7% to 15.1% over 3 years (+1.4 pts).

🔴 Total Debt has grown at 130.0% a year over 3 years.

🔴 Free Cash Flow has turned negative, from ₹2 Cr to -₹7 Cr.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹93 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹42 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹0 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

₹10 Cr

Capex

-₹18 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

0.0%

Insider Holding

64.4%

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
BOSCH LIMITED	56.9x	15.9%
MARUTI SUZUKI INDIA LTD.	25.2x	13.4%
TVS MOTOR COMPANY LTD	56.8x	35.8%
EICHER MOTORS LTD	34.7x	23.0%

Recent News

1 positive2 negative3 general

Captain Pipes Q1 Results: Consolidated Net Profit Rises 50% YoY

scanx.trade, 08 AugResults

🟢Potentially positiveReported improvement. Check whether it came from volume, price or a one-off item before treating it as a trend.

Captain Pipes Ltd. Peer Comparison – Compare with Others

Value Research, 30 Aug

Captain Pipes consolidated net profit declines 49.66% in the June 2026 quarter

Business Standard, 08 AugResults

🔴Potentially negativeReported deterioration, which feeds the growth and margin inputs on this page directly.

Captain Pipes Ltd is Rated Strong Sell

MarketsMojo, 09 Oct

Captain Pipes FY26 net profit falls to ₹698.46 lakh

scanx.trade, 23 MayResults

🔴Potentially negativeReported deterioration, which feeds the growth and margin inputs on this page directly.

Captain Pipes Ltd. Shareholding Pattern – Promoters, FIIs & DIIs

Value Research, 31 Aug

Watch Items

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

DalalBaazaar Thesis

StrongValuation

MiddlingBusiness Quality · Financial Health · Growth · Profitability

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

2 of 5 tripwires tripped — Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x; Free cash flow remains positive · see Key things to watch ↑