Citizen Solar Limited

Technology — Solar · BSE

₹160.00−₹7.75 (−4.62%)

DalalBaazaar Score

63 / 100

🟢 Good

Verdict

NEUTRAL

Risk

Very High

Driven by high debt relative to equity, short-term liabilities exceed short-term assets, negative free cash flow.

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, 6:09 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 Citizen Solar Limited — what it does, how it earns, and who it competes with, before any of the numbers below.

What does this company do?

Citizen Solar Limited engages in the trade of solar panels and allied products in India. The company offers Topcon and Mono Perc modules; and singe and three phase inverters.

IndustrySolar

SectorTechnology

Employees66

Annual revenue₹310 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹310 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹7 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹11 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 66 employees supports ₹4.70 Cr of revenue a year, the signature of a capital- or asset-led business.

EBITDA margin11.3%

Net margin7.2%

Revenue / employee₹4.70 Cr

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are TATA CONSULTANCY SERV LT, INFOSYS LIMITED, HCL TECHNOLOGIES LTD, WIPRO LTD. These are the companies its valuation and returns are measured against elsewhere in this report.

TATA CONSULTANCY SERV LTP/E 17.3x · ROE 45.6%

INFOSYS LIMITEDP/E 15.8x · ROE 32.0%

HCL TECHNOLOGIES LTDP/E 20.4x · ROE 24.6%

WIPRO LTDP/E 14.5x · ROE 15.9%

What is its competitive advantage?Some evidence

ROCE of 27.6% is above what capital typically costs, which suggests some pricing power, though not yet the sustained, wide gap that marks a durable advantage.

ROCE27.6%

ROE53.6%

Peer median ROE32.0%

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 +12973% while net margin moved +1769% 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+12973%

Margin effect+1769%

DalalBaazaar Score

63/ 100

Good

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✓ Beta of 0.14 — historically steadier than the index
✗ Micro Cap: thinner liquidity and sharper drawdowns are normal
✗ High leverage magnifies any downturn in earnings
✗ 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

66/ 100

Good

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

Valuation

79/ 100

Cheap

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

A good business currently available at an undemanding price — the combination this framework is built to look for.

Historical Valuation

Current P/E

11.2x

3Y Median

1400.0x

40 monthly readings · mean 1959.0x · range 10.0x–10586.0x

Sector Median

16.5x

median of 4 sector peers

🟢Current valuation is approximately 99% below its 3y median of 1400.0x. 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 32% below the peer median of 16.5x.

vs. its own history

Cheap

1400.0x median over 40 months · -99%

vs. sector peers

Cheap

16.5x median of 4 peers · -32%

vs. generic bands

Cheap

Below 15x

P/E (Trailing)

11.2x

P/B

5.37x

EV/EBITDA

9.5x

PEG

0.01

Dividend Yield

None

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well6

Margins are improving
EBITDA margin is up from 0.9% to 11.3% over 3 years.
Return on equity is rising
ROE has improved from 0.2% to 53.6%.
Return on capital is rising
ROCE has improved from 0.2% to 27.6%.
High return on capital employed
ROCE of 27.6% is the mark of a business that converts capital into profit efficiently.
Valuation below its historical average
At 11.2x the stock trades 99% below its own median of 1400.0x.
Consistently profitable
Profitable in every one of the last 4 reported years.

🔴 What Needs Attention2

Free cash flow is negative
The business is not currently covering its capital spending from operations.
Short-term liquidity is tight
Current ratio of 0.86 — near-term obligations exceed near-term assets.

Red Flags

4 items require attention · 1 high · 3 watch

🔴High leverageFinancial
Debt/Equity of 2.53x — earnings must service borrowings before shareholders see anything.
🟡Free cash flow is negativeFinancial
Free cash flow was -₹81 Cr in the latest year.
🟡Shareholders have been dilutedOwnership
Shares outstanding are up 160% over 3 years — each existing share owns a smaller slice of the company.
🟡Short-term liquidity is tightFinancial
Current ratio of 0.86 — near-term obligations exceed near-term assets.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Capital compounds at a high rate
ROCE of 27.6% 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.
Margin expansion has further to run
EBITDA margin has risen from 0.9% to 11.3%. 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 99% 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 32% 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?

The debt load needs earnings to hold up
Debt is 3.0x EBITDA. At that level a downturn in earnings turns a manageable balance sheet into a refinancing problem, and lenders get paid before shareholders.
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

1Revenue growth stays above 306% a year✓ 407.5% CAGR
Latest reported year was 5604.7%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.
2EBITDA margin holds above 9%✓ 11.3%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
3Debt / EBITDA falls below 3x✗ 3.0x
Already stretched, so this is a reduction target rather than a level to hold. Around 3x is where lenders typically start attaching conditions.
4Free cash flow remains positive✗ -₹81 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
5ROCE stays above 25%✓ 27.6%
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

6 good · 2 neutral · 3 weak

Market Cap

₹225 Cr

Micro Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

11.2x

Cheap

Cheap against the generic band

P/B Ratio

5.37x

Rich

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

EPS (TTM)

₹14.23

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

53.6%

Strong

Strong capital efficiency

ROCE

27.6%

Strong

Earns comfortably above its likely cost of capital

Debt/Equity

2.53x

High

High leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

5604.7%

Healthy

Healthy top-line growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

8120.0%

Healthy

Profits growing at a healthy clip

Dividend Yield

None

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

Free Cash Flow

-₹81 Cr

Cash burning

Spending more cash than the operations bring in

More Metrics

CMP

₹160

Operating Margin

10.2%

Average

Average margins

Net Margin

4.7%

Average

Average bottom-line conversion

Current Ratio

0.86

Adequate

Adequate, but no real cushion

Beta (vs Nifty)

0.14

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

Near low

Near its 52-week low

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

172.8 / 205.8

Bearish alignment (short < long)

Price vs SMA 200

Below

Long-term downtrend

RSI (14)

35.1

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹2 Cr	₹4 Cr	₹185 Cr	₹310 Cr	+407.5%
EBITDA	₹0 Cr	₹0 Cr	₹20 Cr	₹35 Cr	+1098.2%
EBITDA Margin	0.9%	0.5%	10.9%	11.3%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹0 Cr	₹0 Cr	₹12 Cr	₹22 Cr	+1247.0%
EPS	₹0.02	₹0.01	₹8.28	₹15.97	+827.7%
ROE	0.2%	0.2%	48.9%	53.6%	—
ROCE	0.2%	0.2%	49.2%	27.6%	—
Total Debt	—	—	₹18 Cr	₹106 Cr	—
Free Cash Flow	₹0 Cr	-₹0 Cr	₹5 Cr	-₹81 Cr	—

🟢 Revenue has grown at 407.5% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA has grown at 1098.2% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA Margin has risen from 0.9% to 11.3% over 3 years (+10.4 pts).

🟢 PAT (Net Profit) has grown at 1247.0% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EPS has grown at 827.7% a year over 3 years.

🟢 ROE has risen from 0.2% to 53.6% over 3 years (+53.4 pts).

🟢 ROCE has risen from 0.2% to 27.6% over 3 years (+27.4 pts).

🔴 Free Cash Flow has turned negative, from ₹0 Cr to -₹81 Cr.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹177 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹136 Cr

Total Debt

₹106 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹0 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

₹21 Cr

Capex

-₹102 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

0.0%

Insider Holding

85.0%

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
TATA CONSULTANCY SERV LT	17.3x	45.6%
INFOSYS LIMITED	15.8x	32.0%
HCL TECHNOLOGIES LTD	20.4x	24.6%
WIPRO LTD	14.5x	15.9%

Recent News

1 mixed5 general

Citizen Infoline Limited Renamed Citizen Solar Limited Following NCLT-Sanctioned Amalgamation

scanx.trade, 08 May

India may provide cheapest AI access to every citizen in 5-7 yrs: Jio exec

Business Standard, 07 Oct

CLEW Guide – Germany nears 2030 climate target thanks to renewables despite ongoing heating, transport lag

Clean Energy Wire, 09 Oct

Citizen Watch Company on track for sales of $2.5 billion this year

WatchPro, 18 Aug

Q1 results 2026: Eternal to Adani Power among companies to declare Q1 results today; full list here

Livemint, 22 JulResults

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

Up to 7.25% senior citizen FD interest rate: What is the maturity amount on Rs 5 lakh in 5-year SBI, PNB,

The Economic Times, 14 Aug

Watch Items

Trading very close to its 52-week low — worth checking whether this reflects a temporary setback or a structural problem.
Cross-check against the company's latest quarterly filing / investor presentation before acting.

DalalBaazaar Thesis

🟡Business QualityAdequate12.4/20

🔴Financial HealthStretched7.5/20

🟢GrowthStrong18.5/20

🟢ProfitabilityStrong10.6/15

🟢ValuationAttractive10.2/15

🔴RiskHigh3.7/10

Attractive on both counts

A good business currently available at an undemanding price — the combination this framework exists to look for. The work left is qualitative: whether the advantage the numbers imply is one you can identify and expect to last. 1 high-severity red flag sits above this conclusion and should be read first.

This thesis breaks if

✓Revenue growth stays above 306% a year407.5% CAGR
✓EBITDA margin holds above 9%11.3%
✗Debt / EBITDA falls below 3x3.0x
✗Free cash flow remains positive-₹81 Cr
✓ROCE stays above 25%27.6%