Castrol India Limited

Energy — Oil & Gas Refining & Marketing · NSE

₹198.24+₹2.01 (+1.02%)

DalalBaazaar Score

67 / 100

🟢 Good

Verdict

REASONABLE

Risk

Moderate

Driven by high debt relative to equity, small-cap size, which brings sharper price swings.

In simple words: Strong business and financial position, with both sales and profits growing well. Debt is the main factor to watch.

Decision support, not a buy or sell call.

As of 18 Oct 2026, 6:08 pm

Mixed / neutral. No major red flags jump out, but nothing here screams "obviously cheap" either. This is a name that needs a peer comparison and a view on near-term earnings triggers before sizing a position.

Understanding the Business

Company site ↗

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

What does this company do?

Castrol India Limited manufactures and markets automotive and industrial lubricants in India and internationally.

IndustryOil & Gas Refining & Marketing

SectorEnergy

Employees632

Annual revenue₹5,700 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹5,700 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹17 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹25 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 632 employees supports ₹9.02 Cr of revenue a year, the signature of a capital- or asset-led business.

EBITDA margin24.6%

Net margin16.7%

Revenue / employee₹9.02 Cr

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are RELIANCE INDUSTRIES LTD, OIL AND NATURAL GAS CORP., BHARAT PETROLEUM CORP LT, INDIAN OIL CORP LTD. These are the companies its valuation and returns are measured against elsewhere in this report.

RELIANCE INDUSTRIES LTDP/E 21.9x · ROE 8.3%

OIL AND NATURAL GAS CORP.P/E 6.4x · ROE 11.7%

BHARAT PETROLEUM CORP LTP/E 7.3x · ROE 17.1%

INDIAN OIL CORP LTDP/E 5.3x · ROE 15.4%

What is its competitive advantage?The numbers suggest a real one

ROCE has stayed above 15% in every year available and stands at 65.0%. Returns that high normally get competed away; when they persist, something is protecting them, and its ROE of 57.0% against a peer median of 15.4% is consistent with that. What that something is — brand, scale, switching costs, regulation — the accounts cannot tell you.

ROCE65.0%

ROE57.0%

Peer median ROE15.4%

What is the outlook?

5 analysts covering the stock expect revenue to grow about 6.7% and earnings to grow about 9.4% in the year to 2027. These are estimates by people who follow the company, not a forecast for the wider industry.

Est. revenue growth+6.7%

Est. earnings growth+9.4%

Analysts5

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 +20% while net margin moved -3% 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+20%

Margin effect-3%

DalalBaazaar Score

67/ 100

Good

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✗ Revenue CAGR of only 6.2% — barely ahead of inflation
✗ Profit CAGR of only 5.2%

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

70/ 100

Good

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

Valuation

45/ 100

Fair

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

18.5x

4Y Median

20.9x

44 monthly readings · mean 21.1x · range 13.6x–30.3x

Sector Median

6.9x

median of 4 sector peers

🟢Current valuation is approximately 12% below its 4y median of 20.9x. 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 169% above the peer median of 6.9x.

vs. its own history

Fair

20.9x median over 44 months · -12%

vs. sector peers

Expensive

6.9x median of 4 peers · +169%

vs. generic bands

Fair

15x–35x

P/E (Trailing)

18.5x

P/B

10.29x

EV/EBITDA

13.7x

PEG

3.53

Dividend Yield

6.31%

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well5

Cash generation is improving
Free cash flow is up 23% over 3 years.
Return on equity is rising
ROE has improved from 43.2% to 50.0%.
Return on capital is rising
ROCE has improved from 56.2% to 65.0%.
High return on capital employed
ROCE of 65.0% is the mark of a business that converts capital into profit efficiently.
Consistently profitable
Profitable in every one of the last 4 reported years.

🔴 What Needs Attention1

Debt is rising
Total debt is up 26% over 3 years — worth checking what it funded.

Red Flags

2 items require attention · 1 high · 1 watch

🔴High leverageFinancial
Debt/Equity of 2.78x — earnings must service borrowings before shareholders see anything.
🟡Debt is increasingFinancial
Total debt is up 26% over 3 years.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Capital compounds at a high rate
ROCE of 65.0% 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.
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 2.78x. Interest is payable whether or not the business has a good year.
A premium to the sector to defend
It trades 169% above the peer median. That premium needs a reason that persists, or it closes.
Growth barely outpaces inflation
Revenue compounding at 6.2% 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
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 23%✓ 24.6%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
2Revenue growth stays above 5% a year✓ 6.2% CAGR
Latest reported year was 25.0%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.
3Free cash flow remains positive✓ ₹993 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
4Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x✓ 0.0x
The ratio lenders write covenants against; it survives a small or negative equity base, unlike Debt/Equity.
5ROCE stays above 62%✓ 65.0%
Falling returns on capital are usually competition arriving, and show up here before they reach the margin.

Investment Checklist

11 / 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

7 good · 2 neutral · 2 weak

Market Cap

₹19,608 Cr

Small Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

18.5x

Fair

Fairly valued against the generic band

P/B Ratio

10.29x

Rich

Steep premium to book — needs high, durable returns to justify

EPS (TTM)

₹10.73

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

57.0%

Strong

Strong capital efficiency

ROCE

65.0%

Strong

Earns comfortably above its likely cost of capital

Debt/Equity

2.78x

High

High leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

25.0%

Healthy

Healthy top-line growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

42.1%

Healthy

Profits growing at a healthy clip

Dividend Yield

6.31%

Healthy

Meaningful cash return while you hold the stock

Free Cash Flow

₹705 Cr

Cash generative

Generates cash even after funding its capex

More Metrics

CMP

₹198.24

P/E (Forward)

16.7x

Improving

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

ROA

24.9%

Good

Assets are working hard

Operating Margin

24.8%

Good

Healthy core-business profitability

Net Margin

17.1%

Good

Strong bottom-line conversion

Current Ratio

1.51

Comfortable

Healthy short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

0.32

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

85%

Mid-range

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

197.1 / 191.8

Bullish alignment (short > long)

Price vs SMA 200

Above

Long-term uptrend

RSI (14)

38.3

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY22	FY23	FY24	FY25	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹4,760 Cr	₹5,054 Cr	₹5,346 Cr	₹5,700 Cr	+6.2%
EBITDA	₹1,175 Cr	₹1,267 Cr	₹1,357 Cr	₹1,404 Cr	+6.1%
EBITDA Margin	24.7%	25.1%	25.4%	24.6%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹815 Cr	₹864 Cr	₹927 Cr	₹950 Cr	+5.2%
EPS	₹8.24	₹8.74	₹9.37	₹9.6	+5.2%
ROE	43.2%	40.7%	40.7%	50.0%	—
ROCE	56.2%	53.9%	53.6%	65.0%	—
Total Debt	₹50 Cr	₹77 Cr	₹82 Cr	₹63 Cr	+7.9%
Free Cash Flow	₹806 Cr	₹758 Cr	₹951 Cr	₹993 Cr	+7.2%

🟢 Revenue has grown at 6.2% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA has grown at 6.1% a year over 3 years.

🟡 EBITDA Margin has held roughly flat at 24.6% over 3 years.

🟢 PAT (Net Profit) has grown at 5.2% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EPS has grown at 5.2% a year over 3 years.

🟢 ROE has risen from 43.2% to 50.0% over 3 years (+6.8 pts).

🟢 ROCE has risen from 56.2% to 65.0% over 3 years (+8.8 pts).

🔴 Total Debt has grown at 7.9% a year over 3 years.

🟢 Free Cash Flow has grown at 7.2% a year over 3 years.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2025

Total Assets

₹3,395 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹1,495 Cr

Total Debt

₹63 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹427 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

₹1,090 Cr

Capex

-₹97 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

16.6%

Insider Holding

51.3%

Corporate Actions

Next Earnings

03 Nov 2026

Dividend Rate

₹12.5

Ex-Dividend Date

11 Aug 2026

Analyst Consensus

Recommendations

3 Buy · 2 Hold · 0 Sell

Target Price (Mean)

₹221.4

+11.7% vs CMP

Target Range

₹205 – ₹233

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
RELIANCE INDUSTRIES LTD	21.9x	8.3%
OIL AND NATURAL GAS CORP.	6.4x	11.7%
BHARAT PETROLEUM CORP LT	7.3x	17.1%
INDIAN OIL CORP LTD	5.3x	15.4%

Recent News

2 positive4 mixed

Do These 3 Checks Before Buying Castrol India Limited (NSE:CASTROLIND) For Its Upcoming Dividend

Simply Wall Street, 07 AugCapital return

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

CASTROLIND Forecast — Price Target — Prediction for 2027

TradingView, 25 JunAnalyst view

🟡Mixed / dependsBroker commentary — an opinion about the price rather than new information about the business.

Castrol India share price rises 3% on strong Q2 performance

Moneycontrol.com, 05 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.

Upcoming dividend, bonus, stock split this week: Vedanta, Castrol India, PFC, Angel One among others in focus

Upstox, 13 OctCapital return

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

Castrol India schedules third-quarter results: what it means for Castrol India stock

ad-hoc-news.de, 14 OctResults

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

Castrol India (NSE: CASTROLIND): Financials, Results and Outlook

Kalkine India, 09 OctResults

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

Watch Items

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

DalalBaazaar Thesis

🟢Business QualityStrong17.9/20

🟢Financial HealthStrong13.9/20

🔴GrowthWeak7.4/20

🟢ProfitabilityStrong12.9/15

🟡ValuationFair8.7/15

🟡RiskModerate5.7/10

Good business at a fair price

A sound business at a reasonable valuation. Suitable for a long-term holding, with the valuation and the direction of margins worth watching rather than the business itself. 1 high-severity red flag sits above this conclusion and should be read first.

This thesis breaks if

✓EBITDA margin holds above 23%24.6%
✓Revenue growth stays above 5% a year6.2% CAGR
✓Free cash flow remains positive₹993 Cr
✓Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x0.0x
✓ROCE stays above 62%65.0%