CHL Limited

Consumer Cyclical — Lodging · BSE

₹28.27−₹0.01 (−0.04%)

DalalBaazaar Score

46 / 100

🟡 Moderate

Verdict

CAUTION

Risk

Very High

Driven by short-term liabilities exceed short-term assets, negative free cash flow, the company is currently loss-making.

In simple words: The company is currently losing money, 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, 6:07 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.

Understanding the Business

Company site ↗

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

What does this company do?

CHL Limited engages in the hospitality and hotel business in India and Tajikistan.

IndustryLodging

SectorConsumer Cyclical

Employees428

Annual revenue₹144 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹144 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹5 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹29 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 428 employees supports ₹33.7 lakh of revenue a year, the signature of a people-led business.

EBITDA margin29.3%

Net margin4.6%

Revenue / employee₹33.7 lakh

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are MARUTI SUZUKI INDIA LTD., TITAN COMPANY LIMITED, TRENT LTD, AVENUE SUPERMARTS LIMITED. These are the companies its valuation and returns are measured against elsewhere in this report.

MARUTI SUZUKI INDIA LTD.P/E 25.2x · ROE 13.4%

TITAN COMPANY LIMITEDP/E 68.5x · ROE 36.7%

TRENT LTDP/E 87.2x · ROE 25.9%

AVENUE SUPERMARTS LIMITEDP/E 69.9x · ROE 12.7%

What is its competitive advantage?Little sign of one

Returns on capital of 3.7% 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.

ROCE3.7%

ROE1.6%

Peer median ROE25.9%

What has been driving growth?

Profit has moved mainly because margins changed, not because the business sold much more. Over 3 years revenue moved +22% while net margin moved +79% 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+22%

Margin effect+79%

DalalBaazaar Score

46/ 100

Moderate

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

• Debt/Equity of 0.66x is manageable
✗ Current ratio of 0.35 — short-term liabilities exceed short-term assets
✗ Free cash flow is negative — growth is being funded by borrowing or fresh equity
✗ Interest cover of only 1.4x — little room if profits dip

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

47/ 100

Average

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

Valuation

44/ 100

Expensive

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.

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

0.42x

EV/EBITDA

9.3x

PEG

—

Dividend Yield

None

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well1

Consistently profitable
Profitable in every one of the last 4 reported years.

🔴 What Needs Attention4

Margins are compressing
EBITDA margin has slipped from 31.4% to 29.3% over 3 years.
Free cash flow is negative
The business is not currently covering its capital spending from operations.
Return on capital is falling
ROCE has declined from 8.1% to 3.7% — often a sign of competition or overexpansion.
Short-term liquidity is tight
Current ratio of 0.35 — near-term obligations exceed near-term assets.

Red Flags

4 items require attention · 1 high · 3 watch

🔴Thin interest coverageFinancial
Operating profit covers interest only 1.4x — little room if earnings dip.
🟡Free cash flow is negativeFinancial
Free cash flow was -₹516 Cr in the latest year.
🟡Margins are compressingFinancial
EBITDA margin is down 2.2 points over 3 years.
🟡Short-term liquidity is tightFinancial
Current ratio of 0.35 — near-term obligations exceed near-term assets.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

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 31.4% to 29.3%. 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 6.6x EBITDA. At that level a downturn in earnings turns a manageable balance sheet into a refinancing problem, and lenders get paid before shareholders.
Growth barely outpaces inflation
Revenue compounding at 6.8% 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.
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.

🟡 Key Things to WatchMeasurable tripwires, set against where this company stands today

1EBITDA margin holds above 27%✓ 29.3%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
2Debt / EBITDA falls below 3x✗ 6.6x
Already stretched, so this is a reduction target rather than a level to hold. Around 3x is where lenders typically start attaching conditions.
3Free cash flow remains positive✗ -₹516 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
4Interest cover stays above 3x✗ 1.4x
How much operating profit can fall before interest stops being comfortably covered.
5Revenue growth stays above 5% a year✓ 6.8% CAGR
Latest reported year was 10.6%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.

Investment Checklist

4 / 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

2 good · 3 neutral · 6 weak

Market Cap

₹155 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

0.42x

Reasonable

Reasonable against the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹-0.27

Loss-making

Negative earnings per share — the business is losing money

ROE

1.6%

Weak

Weak capital efficiency

ROCE

3.7%

Weak

Low return on total capital employed

Debt/Equity

0.66x

Moderate

Moderate leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

10.6%

Healthy

Healthy top-line growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

-24.6%

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

-₹516 Cr

Cash burning

Spending more cash than the operations bring in

More Metrics

CMP

₹28.27

Operating Margin

3.6%

Weak

Thin margins leave little room for error

Net Margin

8.0%

Average

Average bottom-line conversion

Current Ratio

0.35

Tight

Tight short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

-0.21

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

24%

Mid-range

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

27.7 / 27.7

Bearish alignment (short < long)

Price vs SMA 200

Below

Long-term downtrend

RSI (14)

71.1

Overbought zone

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹118 Cr	₹130 Cr	₹143 Cr	₹144 Cr	+6.8%
EBITDA	₹37 Cr	₹60 Cr	₹46 Cr	₹42 Cr	+4.3%
EBITDA Margin	31.4%	45.9%	32.4%	29.3%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹3 Cr	₹14 Cr	₹9 Cr	₹7 Cr	+29.6%
EPS	₹6.08	₹1.14	₹-1.24	₹-5.5	—
ROCE	8.1%	21.4%	16.1%	3.7%	—
Total Debt	₹286 Cr	₹258 Cr	₹257 Cr	₹277 Cr	-1.1%
Free Cash Flow	₹49 Cr	₹6 Cr	₹46 Cr	-₹516 Cr	—

🟢 Revenue has grown at 6.8% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA has grown at 4.3% a year over 3 years.

🔴 EBITDA Margin has fallen from 31.4% to 29.3% over 3 years (-2.2 pts).

🟢 PAT (Net Profit) has grown at 29.6% a year over 3 years.

🔴 EPS has turned negative, from ₹6.08 to ₹-5.5.

🔴 ROCE has fallen from 8.1% to 3.7% over 3 years (-4.4 pts).

🟡 Total Debt has been broadly flat over 3 years (-1.1% a year).

🔴 Free Cash Flow has turned negative, from ₹49 Cr to -₹516 Cr.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹914 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹492 Cr

Total Debt

₹277 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹41 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

₹43 Cr

Capex

-₹559 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

0.0%

Insider Holding

74.6%

Corporate Actions

Ex-Dividend Date

13 Sept 2013

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
MARUTI SUZUKI INDIA LTD.	25.2x	13.4%
TITAN COMPANY LIMITED	68.5x	36.7%
TRENT LTD	87.2x	25.9%
AVENUE SUPERMARTS LIMITED	69.9x	12.7%

Recent News

1 mixed5 general

Continental Holdings (MAL:CHL) - Stock Analysis

Simply Wall Street, 17 Oct

CHL Ltd. (CHLLTD) Share Price Falls 8.29% to Rs 26: Price Action, Valuation and Sector View

Univest, 10 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.

MBI/CHL DEUDA ESTRUCTURADA FI, (CFI-MBICHI0.SN) valuation measures and financial statistics

Yahoo Finance UK, 16 Oct

CHL Ltd. Key Financial Ratios – Valuation, Profitability & More

Value Research, 31 Aug

Camplify Holdings (ASX:CHL) - Stock Analysis

Simply Wall Street, 15 Oct

Why is Camplify Holdings (ASX:CHL) share price up today?

Kalkine, 26 Aug

Watch Items

Cross-check against the company's latest quarterly filing / investor presentation before acting.
RSI is in overbought territory — momentum entries here carry more short-term pullback risk.

DalalBaazaar Thesis

🔴Business QualityWeak8.8/20

🔴Financial HealthStretched6.6/20

🟢GrowthStrong13.1/20

🔴ProfitabilityWeak6.2/15

🟡ValuationFair7.1/15

🔴RiskHigh4/10

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. 1 high-severity red flag sits above this conclusion and should be read first.

This thesis breaks if

✓EBITDA margin holds above 27%29.3%
✗Debt / EBITDA falls below 3x6.6x
✗Free cash flow remains positive-₹516 Cr
✗Interest cover stays above 3x1.4x
✓Revenue growth stays above 5% a year6.8% CAGR