Chaman Lal Setia Exports Ltd.

Consumer Defensive — Packaged Foods · NSE

₹271.80−₹2.70 (−0.98%)

DalalBaazaar Score

53 / 100

🟡 Moderate

Verdict

NEUTRAL

Risk

High

Driven by high debt relative to equity, micro-cap size, which brings thin liquidity.

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

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 Chaman Lal Setia Exports Ltd. — what it does, how it earns, and who it competes with, before any of the numbers below.

What does this company do?

Chaman Lal Setia Exports Ltd. manufactures, trades, and markets rice in India. The company offers basmati rice, sella rice, bhatti sella rice for diabetic people, smoked rice, and pesticide residue free rice.

IndustryPackaged Foods

SectorConsumer Defensive

Employees206

Annual revenue₹1,400 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹1,400 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹8 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹12 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 206 employees supports ₹6.80 Cr of revenue a year, the signature of a capital- or asset-led business.

EBITDA margin11.9%

Net margin8.2%

Revenue / employee₹6.80 Cr

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are NESTLE INDIA LIMITED, BRITANNIA INDUSTRIES LTD, TATA CONSUMER PRODUCT LTD, DABUR INDIA LTD. These are the companies its valuation and returns are measured against elsewhere in this report.

NESTLE INDIA LIMITEDP/E 59.8x · ROE 79.9%

BRITANNIA INDUSTRIES LTDP/E 44.1x · ROE 51.0%

TATA CONSUMER PRODUCT LTDP/E 59.3x · ROE 7.5%

DABUR INDIA LTDP/E 34.7x · ROE 17.2%

What is its competitive advantage?Some evidence

ROCE of 17.7% is above what capital typically costs, which suggests some pricing power, though not yet the sustained, wide gap that marks a durable advantage.

ROCE17.7%

ROE13.7%

Peer median ROE51.0%

What has been driving growth?

Profit has moved mainly because margins changed, not because the business sold much more. Over 3 years revenue moved +4% while net margin moved -6% 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+4%

Margin effect-6%

DalalBaazaar Score

53/ 100

Moderate

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✗ Revenue CAGR of only 1.2% — barely ahead of inflation
✗ Profit has declined at 0.8% a year

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

49/ 100

Average

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

Valuation

75/ 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

10.8x

3Y Median

12.7x

40 monthly readings · mean 12.4x · range 8.9x–19.2x

Sector Median

51.7x

median of 4 sector peers

🟢Current valuation is approximately 15% below its 3y median of 12.7x. 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 79% below the peer median of 51.7x.

vs. its own history

Fair

12.7x median over 40 months · -15%

vs. sector peers

Cheap

51.7x median of 4 peers · -79%

vs. generic bands

Cheap

Below 15x

P/E (Trailing)

10.8x

P/B

1.61x

EV/EBITDA

8.6x

PEG

0.22

Dividend Yield

1.10%

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well3

Debt is being paid down
Total debt is down 31% over 3 years.
Cash flow has turned positive
Free cash flow moved from negative to positive over 3 years.
Consistently profitable
Profitable in every one of the last 4 reported years.

🔴 What Needs Attention3

Return on equity is falling
ROE has dropped from 19.3% to 13.7% — each rupee of shareholder capital earns less than it did.
Return on capital is falling
ROCE has declined from 24.8% to 17.7% — often a sign of competition or overexpansion.
Receivables growing faster than sales
Receivables are up 52% against revenue growth of 4% — customers are taking longer to pay.

Red Flags

3 items require attention · 2 high · 1 watch

🔴High leverageFinancial
Debt/Equity of 9.87x — earnings must service borrowings before shareholders see anything.
🔴Profit up while operating cash flow fallsFinancial
Reported profit rose but cash generated by operations declined — worth checking whether earnings are being supported by non-cash items or working capital.
🟡Receivables growing faster than salesFinancial
Receivables up 52% against revenue up 4% — sales are being booked faster than they are collected.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Deleveraging frees up earnings
Debt is down 31% over 3 years. Every rupee of interest not paid drops to the bottom line, so profit can grow even if revenue does not.
Cheaper than its peers
It trades 79% 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?

Leverage amplifies any setback
Debt/Equity of 9.87x. Interest is payable whether or not the business has a good year.
Sales are being booked faster than collected
Receivables are up 52% against revenue up 4%. If customers keep taking longer to pay, reported profit will not turn into cash — and write-offs follow if some never do.
Growth barely outpaces inflation
Revenue compounding at 1.2% 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.
Returns on shareholder capital are falling
ROE has dropped from 19.3% to 13.7%. 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.

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

1EBITDA margin holds above 10%✓ 11.9%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
2Revenue growth stays above 4% a year✗ 1.2% CAGR
Latest reported year was 12.6%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.
3Free cash flow remains positive✓ ₹41 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
4Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x✓ 0.5x
The ratio lenders write covenants against; it survives a small or negative equity base, unlike Debt/Equity.
5ROCE stays above 15%✓ 17.7%
Falling returns on capital are usually competition arriving, and show up here before they reach the margin.

Investment Checklist

7 / 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 · 4 neutral · 1 weak

Market Cap

₹1,352 Cr

Micro Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

10.8x

Cheap

Cheap against the generic band

P/B Ratio

1.61x

Fair

Moderate premium to the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹25.19

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

13.7%

Moderate

Moderate capital efficiency

ROCE

17.7%

Strong

Earns comfortably above its likely cost of capital

Debt/Equity

9.87x

High

High leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

12.6%

Healthy

Healthy top-line growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

48.0%

Healthy

Profits growing at a healthy clip

Dividend Yield

1.10%

Modest

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

Free Cash Flow

₹41 Cr

Cash generative

Generates cash even after funding its capex

More Metrics

CMP

₹271.8

Operating Margin

12.2%

Average

Average margins

Net Margin

8.5%

Average

Average bottom-line conversion

Current Ratio

6.94

Comfortable

Healthy short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

0.56

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

56%

Mid-range

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

287.4 / 291.1

Bearish alignment (short < long)

Price vs SMA 200

Below

Long-term downtrend

RSI (14)

29.2

Oversold zone

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹1,351 Cr	₹1,332 Cr	₹1,458 Cr	₹1,400 Cr	+1.2%
EBITDA	₹171 Cr	₹171 Cr	₹150 Cr	₹166 Cr	-0.8%
EBITDA Margin	12.6%	12.9%	10.3%	11.9%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹118 Cr	₹116 Cr	₹103 Cr	₹115 Cr	-0.8%
EPS	₹22.76	₹22.36	₹20.68	₹23.1	+0.5%
ROE	19.3%	16.2%	14.0%	13.7%	—
ROCE	24.8%	21.3%	18.2%	17.7%	—
Total Debt	₹121 Cr	₹175 Cr	₹123 Cr	₹83 Cr	-11.8%
Free Cash Flow	-₹2 Cr	-₹52 Cr	₹55 Cr	₹41 Cr	—

🟡 Revenue has been broadly flat over 3 years (1.2% a year).

🟡 EBITDA has been broadly flat over 3 years (-0.8% a year).

🟡 EBITDA Margin has held roughly flat at 11.9% over 3 years.

🟡 PAT (Net Profit) has been broadly flat over 3 years (-0.8% a year).

🟡 EPS has been broadly flat over 3 years (0.5% a year).

🔴 ROE has fallen from 19.3% to 13.7% over 3 years (-5.6 pts).

🔴 ROCE has fallen from 24.8% to 17.7% over 3 years (-7.1 pts).

🟢 Total Debt has shrunk at 11.8% a year over 3 years.

🟢 Free Cash Flow has turned positive, from -₹2 Cr to ₹41 Cr.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹1,040 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹202 Cr

Total Debt

₹83 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹0 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

₹51 Cr

Capex

-₹10 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

4.5%

Insider Holding

75.9%

Corporate Actions

Dividend Rate

₹3

Ex-Dividend Date

21 Sept 2026

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
NESTLE INDIA LIMITED	59.8x	79.9%
BRITANNIA INDUSTRIES LTD	44.1x	51.0%
TATA CONSUMER PRODUCT LTD	59.3x	7.5%
DABUR INDIA LTD	34.7x	17.2%

Recent News

1 positive2 mixed3 general

CLSEL Share Price Rise: Market Cap, EPS and ROE Snapshot

Univest, 24 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.

Chaman Lal Setia Exports Q1 Revenue At 3.46B Rupees, Net Profit At 320M Rupees

Sahi, 06 AugResults

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

Chaman Lal Setia Exports Q1FY27 profit surges 48%, led by export realization gains

scanx.trade, 07 AugResults

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

Chaman Lal Setia Exports Ltd. Peer Comparison – Compare with Others

Value Research, 30 Aug

Volume shockers: IFCI, Chamanlal Sethia, Authum Investment surge up to 20%

Business Standard, 12 Jun

Dixon Tech, Bharat Dynamics, Chaman Lal Setia, Manyavar, Dividends: Last Day To Buy Shares To Qualify

NDTV Profit, 18 Sept

Watch Items

Cross-check against the company's latest quarterly filing / investor presentation before acting.
RSI is in oversold territory — could mean either a bargain or a stock still falling for good reason. Check the 'why' before assuming reversal.

DalalBaazaar Thesis

🟡Business QualityAdequate10.3/20

🟢Financial HealthStrong14.5/20

🔴GrowthWeak5/20

🟡ProfitabilityModerate7.1/15

🟢ValuationAttractive10.4/15

🟡RiskModerate5.3/10

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. 2 high-severity red flags sit above this conclusion and should be read first.

This thesis breaks if

✓EBITDA margin holds above 10%11.9%
✗Revenue growth stays above 4% a year1.2% CAGR
✓Free cash flow remains positive₹41 Cr
✓Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x0.5x
✓ROCE stays above 15%17.7%