Chemcrux Enterprises Limited

Basic Materials — Specialty Chemicals · NSE

₹81.06−₹0.33 (−0.41%)

DalalBaazaar Score

43 / 100

🟡 Moderate

Verdict

CAUTION

Risk

Moderate

Driven by micro-cap size, which brings thin liquidity.

In simple words: The business is earning a fairly low return on the money invested in it, with both sales and profits growing well. Nothing on this snapshot stands out as an immediate concern — the usual checks on business quality and management still apply.

Decision support, not a buy or sell call.

As of 18 Oct 2026, 7:48 pm

Understanding the Business

Company site ↗

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

What does this company do?

Chemcrux Enterprises Limited engages in the manufacture and sale of intermediates and chemicals in India. Its chemicals and intermediates products are used in the manufacture of bulk drugs active pharmaceutical ingredients, electro-plating, pharmaceuticals, dyes, and pigments.

IndustrySpecialty Chemicals

SectorBasic Materials

Employees99

Annual revenue₹60 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹60 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹6 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹20 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 99 employees supports ₹60.7 lakh of revenue a year, the signature of a people-led business.

Revenue / employee₹60.7 lakh

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.

Compared side by side in Peers ↓

What is its competitive advantage?Little sign of one

Returns on capital of 8.1% 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 ROE22.3%

What has been driving growth?

Profit has moved mainly because margins changed, not because the business sold much more. Over 3 years revenue moved -26% while net margin moved -65% 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-26%

Margin effect-65%

DalalBaazaar Score

43/ 100

Moderate

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✗ Revenue has contracted at 9.4% a year
✗ Profit has declined at 36.2% a year

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

40/ 100

Weak

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

Valuation

69/ 100

Cheap

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

Optically cheap, but the underlying business scores poorly. Cheap-and-weak is what a value trap looks like from the outside — the low price may be deserved.

Historical Valuation

Current P/E

29.1x

Sector Median

40.4x

median of 4 sector peers

🟢Against its sector it trades 28% below the peer median of 40.4x.

vs. its own history

Not enough price and earnings history

vs. sector peers

Cheap

40.4x median of 4 peers · -28%

vs. generic bands

Fair

15x–35x

EV/EBITDA

12.6x

PEG

—

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well2

Cash generation is improving
Free cash flow is up 138% over 3 years.
Consistently profitable
Profitable in every one of the last 4 reported years.

🔴 What Needs Attention2

Return on equity is falling
ROE has dropped from 21.6% to 4.9% — each rupee of shareholder capital earns less than it did.
Return on capital is falling
ROCE has declined from 25.6% to 8.1% — often a sign of competition or overexpansion.

Red Flags

5 items require attention · 3 high · 2 watch

🔴Debt has risen sharplyFinancial
Total debt is up 138% over 3 years, from ₹14 Cr to ₹34 Cr.
🔴Significant margin compressionFinancial
EBITDA margin has fallen 7.2 points, from 27.2% to 20.0%.
🔴Receivables growing faster than salesFinancial
Receivables up 41% against revenue up -26% — sales are being booked faster than they are collected.
🟡Interest coverage is deterioratingFinancial
Cover has fallen from 4.3x to 2.7x.
🟡Profit is decliningFinancial
Net profit is down 74% over 3 years.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Cheaper than its peers
It trades 28% below the sector median. Either the market sees a problem the numbers do not show, or the discount closes.
Self-funding with balance-sheet headroom
Positive free cash flow of ₹9 Cr alongside low debt means growth, buybacks or dividends need no outside money — and a downturn can be absorbed rather than refinanced.
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?

Margins are being competed away
EBITDA margin has fallen from 27.2% to 20.0%. If the trend continues, profit falls even on flat sales — and margin decline rarely reverses quickly.
Sales are being booked faster than collected
Receivables are up 41% against revenue up -26%. If customers keep taking longer to pay, reported profit will not turn into cash — and write-offs follow if some never do.
Returns on shareholder capital are falling
ROE has dropped from 21.6% to 4.9%. 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.
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 18%✓ 20.0%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
2Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x✗ 2.9x
The ratio lenders write covenants against; it survives a small or negative equity base, unlike Debt/Equity.
3Interest cover stays above 3x✗ 2.7x
How much operating profit can fall before interest stops being comfortably covered.
4Free cash flow remains positive✓ ₹9 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
5ROCE stays above 8%✓ 8.1%
Falling returns on capital are usually competition arriving, and show up here before they reach the margin.

Investment Checklist

7 / 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

5 good · 5 neutral · 1 weak

Market Cap

₹120 Cr

Micro Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

29.1x

Fair

Fairly valued against the generic band

P/B Ratio

1.56x

Fair

Moderate premium to the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹2.79

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

4.9%

Weak

Weak capital efficiency

ROCE

8.1%

Moderate

Moderate return on the capital in the business

Debt/Equity

0.45x

Low

Conservative leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

32.9%

Healthy

Healthy top-line growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

466.7%

Healthy

Profits growing at a healthy clip

Dividend Yield

1.23%

Modest

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

Free Cash Flow

₹9 Cr

Cash generative

Generates cash even after funding its capex

More Metrics

Operating Margin

6.9%

Average

Average margins

Net Margin

4.8%

Average

Average bottom-line conversion

Current Ratio

1.91

Comfortable

Healthy short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

0.47

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

31%

Mid-range

Technical Snapshot

RSI (14)

53.3

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹81 Cr	₹57 Cr	₹58 Cr	₹60 Cr	-9.4%
EBITDA	₹22 Cr	₹14 Cr	₹10 Cr	₹12 Cr	-18.2%
EBITDA Margin	27.2%	25.1%	18.1%	20.0%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹14 Cr	₹8 Cr	₹4 Cr	₹4 Cr	-36.2%
EPS	₹9.7	₹5.7	₹2.64	₹2.52	-36.2%
ROE	21.6%	11.7%	5.2%	4.9%	—
ROCE	25.6%	12.5%	7.0%	8.1%	—
Total Debt	₹14 Cr	₹26 Cr	₹42 Cr	₹34 Cr	+33.6%
Free Cash Flow	₹4 Cr	-₹8 Cr	-₹1 Cr	₹9 Cr	+33.6%

🔴 Revenue has shrunk at 9.4% a year over 3 years.

🔴 EBITDA has shrunk at 18.2% a year over 3 years.

🔴 EBITDA Margin has fallen from 27.2% to 20.0% over 3 years (-7.2 pts).

🔴 PAT (Net Profit) has shrunk at 36.2% a year over 3 years.

🔴 EPS has shrunk at 36.2% a year over 3 years.

🔴 ROE has fallen from 21.6% to 4.9% over 3 years (-16.8 pts).

🔴 ROCE has fallen from 25.6% to 8.1% over 3 years (-17.4 pts).

🔴 Total Debt has grown at 33.6% a year over 3 years.

🟢 Free Cash Flow has grown at 33.6% a year over 3 years.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹127 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹51 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹2 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

₹14 Cr

Capex

-₹5 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

0.0%

Insider Holding

75.4%

Corporate Actions

Dividend Rate

₹1

Ex-Dividend Date

10 Sept 2026

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
ASIAN PAINTS LIMITED	46.9x	22.3%
PIDILITE INDUSTRIES LTD	57.8x	24.4%
SRF LTD	33.8x	15.4%
UPL LIMITED	21.5x	6.1%

Recent News

1 positive2 mixed3 general

CHEMCRUX Stock Price and Chart — NSE:CHEMCRUX

TradingView, 18 Aug

Chemcrux Enterprises incorporates subsidiary Chemcrux Foundation

scanx.trade, 17 Jul

Chemcrux Enterprises Ltd. Share Price Falls 14.08% Today

Univest, 05 AugPrice move

🟡Mixed / dependsA price move rather than a change in the business. If the figures on this page have not moved, the fall is either an opportunity or news they have yet to catch up with.

Archidply Decor Ltd leads losers in 'B' group

Business Standard, 05 Aug

Chemcrux Enterprises net profit rises 135% in Q1FY27

scanx.trade, 04 AugResults

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

Chemcrux Enterprises Share Price Up 1.55% After Q1 FY27 Results

Univest, 04 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.

Watch Items

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

DalalBaazaar Thesis

StrongFinancial Health

MiddlingValuation · Risk

WeakBusiness Quality · Growth · Profitability

Points for each in the Score ↑

Cheap, but for a reason

The low price is the whole case here, and the business underneath scores poorly. Cheap-and-weak is what a value trap looks like from the outside — it needs a specific reason the numbers are about to improve, not just the observation that they are low. 3 high-severity red flags sit above this conclusion and should be read first.

2 of 5 tripwires tripped — Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x; Interest cover stays above 3x · see Key things to watch ↑