Citichem India Limited

Basic Materials — Specialty Chemicals · BSE

₹16.00₹0.00 (0.00%)

DalalBaazaar Score

54 / 100

🟡 Moderate

Verdict

CAUTION

Risk

High

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

In simple words: The business is earning a fairly low return on the money invested in it, but sales are shrinking. 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 Citichem India Limited — what it does, how it earns, and who it competes with, before any of the numbers below.

What does this company do?

Citichem India Limited imports and trades in chemicals in India.

IndustrySpecialty Chemicals

SectorBasic Materials

Annual revenue₹9 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹9 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹11 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹31 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation.

EBITDA margin31.2%

Net margin10.6%

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 9.2% 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.

ROCE9.2%

ROE4.9%

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 -55% while net margin moved +510% 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-55%

Margin effect+510%

DalalBaazaar Score

54/ 100

Moderate

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✗ 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

54/ 100

Average

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

Valuation

81/ 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

10.9x

2Y Median

10.4x

23 monthly readings · mean 10.3x · range 5.3x–19.1x

Sector Median

40.4x

median of 4 sector peers

🟡Currently trading close to its 2y median of 10.4x — the market is paying about what it usually pays for this company.

🟢Against its sector it trades 73% below the peer median of 40.4x.

vs. its own history

Fair

10.4x median over 23 months · +5%

vs. sector peers

Cheap

40.4x median of 4 peers · -73%

vs. generic bands

Cheap

Below 15x

P/E (Trailing)

10.9x

P/B

0.52x

EV/EBITDA

6.1x

PEG

0.27

Dividend Yield

None

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well2

Margins are improving
EBITDA margin is up from 2.8% to 31.2% over 3 years.
Consistently profitable
Profitable in every one of the last 4 reported years.

🔴 What Needs Attention2

Debt is rising
Total debt is up 604% over 3 years — worth checking what it funded.
Free cash flow is negative
The business is not currently covering its capital spending from operations.

Red Flags

3 items require attention · 1 high · 2 watch

🔴Debt has risen sharplyFinancial
Total debt is up 604% over 3 years, from ₹1 Cr to ₹8 Cr.
🟡Interest coverage is deterioratingFinancial
Cover has fallen from 6.5x to 3.4x.
🟡Free cash flow is negativeFinancial
Free cash flow was -₹6 Cr in the latest year.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Margin expansion has further to run
EBITDA margin has risen from 2.8% to 31.2%. If that holds, profit compounds faster than sales and today's multiple looks cheaper in hindsight than it does now.
Cheaper than its peers
It trades 73% 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.

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

1EBITDA margin holds above 29%✓ 31.2%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
2Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x✗ 2.6x
The ratio lenders write covenants against; it survives a small or negative equity base, unlike Debt/Equity.
3Free cash flow remains positive✗ -₹6 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
4Interest cover stays above 3x✓ 3.4x
How much operating profit can fall before interest stops being comfortably covered.
5ROCE stays above 8%✓ 9.2%
Falling returns on capital are usually competition arriving, and show up here before they reach the margin.

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

4 good · 3 neutral · 4 weak

Market Cap

₹11 Cr

Micro Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

10.9x

Cheap

Cheap against the generic band

P/B Ratio

0.52x

Reasonable

Reasonable against the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹1.47

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

4.9%

Weak

Weak capital efficiency

ROCE

9.2%

Moderate

Moderate return on the capital in the business

Debt/Equity

0.37x

Low

Conservative leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

-94.4%

Shrinking

Sales are contracting

Profit Growth (YoY)

-79.9%

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

-₹6 Cr

Cash burning

Spending more cash than the operations bring in

More Metrics

CMP

₹16

ROA

1.4%

Weak

Assets generate little profit

Operating Margin

22.7%

Good

Healthy core-business profitability

Net Margin

10.6%

Good

Strong bottom-line conversion

Current Ratio

1.37

Comfortable

Healthy short-term liquidity

52W Range Position

21%

Mid-range

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

15.9 / 15.4

Bullish alignment (short > long)

Price vs SMA 200

Below

Long-term downtrend

RSI (14)

37.5

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹21 Cr	₹20 Cr	₹19 Cr	₹9 Cr	-23.2%
EBITDA	₹1 Cr	₹2 Cr	₹4 Cr	₹3 Cr	+72.3%
EBITDA Margin	2.8%	9.1%	19.2%	31.2%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹0 Cr	₹1 Cr	₹1 Cr	₹1 Cr	+40.3%
EPS	₹0.53	₹2.04	₹2.26	—	—
ROE	5.9%	18.5%	6.1%	4.7%	—
ROCE	7.9%	20.6%	9.5%	9.2%	—
Total Debt	₹1 Cr	₹1 Cr	₹5 Cr	₹8 Cr	+91.7%
Free Cash Flow	₹0 Cr	₹0 Cr	-₹12 Cr	-₹6 Cr	—

🔴 Revenue has shrunk at 23.2% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA has grown at 72.3% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA Margin has risen from 2.8% to 31.2% over 3 years (+28.4 pts).

🟢 PAT (Net Profit) has grown at 40.3% a year over 3 years.

🔴 ROE has fallen from 5.9% to 4.7% over 3 years (-1.2 pts).

🟢 ROCE has risen from 7.9% to 9.2% over 3 years (+1.3 pts).

🔴 Total Debt has grown at 91.7% a year over 3 years.

🔴 Free Cash Flow has turned negative, from ₹0 Cr to -₹6 Cr.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹55 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹34 Cr

Total Debt

₹8 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹1 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

-₹5 Cr

Capex

-₹1 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

0.0%

Insider Holding

72.0%

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 mixed1 negative4 general

Citichem India shareholders approve all resolutions at 34th AGM

scanx.trade, 03 Oct

Citichem India Limited Share Price

Upstox, 05 May

Half Yearly Results, Half yearly Earnings for Citichem India

The Economic Times, 15 MarResults

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

Citichem India net profit falls to ₹1 crore in FY26 amid revenue drop

scanx.trade, 07 SeptResults

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

CITICHEM Stock Price and Chart — BSE:CITICHEM

TradingView, 03 Jan

Citichem India Limited IPO Allotment Status: Check Allotment Status Online on BSE & Kfin Technologies

Groww, 26 Feb

Watch Items

Revenue growth is negative (-94.4%) on the latest reported period — check if this is one-off or a trend.
Cross-check against the company's latest quarterly filing / investor presentation before acting.

DalalBaazaar Thesis

🟡Business QualityAdequate11.8/20

🟡Financial HealthAdequate10.8/20

🟡GrowthModest9.5/20

🟡ProfitabilityModerate7.9/15

🟢ValuationAttractive11.8/15

🔴RiskHigh2.5/10

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 29%31.2%
✗Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x2.6x
✗Free cash flow remains positive-₹6 Cr
✓Interest cover stays above 3x3.4x
✓ROCE stays above 8%9.2%