Cranex Limited

Industrials — Farm & Heavy Construction Machinery · BSE

₹100.00+₹1.60 (+1.63%)

DalalBaazaar Score

54 / 100

🟡 Moderate

Verdict

NEUTRAL

Risk

Moderate

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

In simple words: Reasonable but unspectacular business quality, with both sales and profits growing well. Cash generation is currently the main factor to watch.

Decision support, not a buy or sell call.

As of 18 Oct 2026, 7:03 pm

Understanding the Business

Company site ↗

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

What does this company do?

Cranex Limited engages in the manufacture and sale of cranes and its parts in India and internationally. The company provides jib, gantry, single girder EOT, and double girder overhead cranes; escalators and moving walkways; and elevators, as well as traversers and EU rakes.

IndustryFarm & Heavy Construction Machinery

SectorIndustrials

Employees125

Annual revenue₹55 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹55 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹4 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹10 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 125 employees supports ₹44.3 lakh of revenue a year, the signature of a people-led business.

Revenue / employee₹44.3 lakh

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are MAHINDRA & MAHINDRA LTD, ASHOK LEYLAND LTD, TATA MOTORS LIMITED, LARSEN & TOUBRO LTD.. 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 14.9% 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 ROE24.4%

What has been driving growth?

Profit has moved mainly because margins changed, not because the business sold much more. Over 3 years revenue moved +34% while net margin moved +219% 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+34%

Margin effect+219%

DalalBaazaar Score

54/ 100

Moderate

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✗ ROE of 9.0% is weak

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

55/ 100

Average

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

Valuation

60/ 100

Fair

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

33.1x

3Y Median

39.8x

40 monthly readings · mean 48.0x · range 26.3x–122.3x

Sector Median

27.6x

median of 4 sector peers

🟢Current valuation is approximately 17% below its 3y median of 39.8x. 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 20% above the peer median of 27.6x.

vs. its own history

Fair

39.8x median over 40 months · -17%

vs. sector peers

Fair

27.6x median of 4 peers · +20%

vs. generic bands

Fair

15x–35x

EV/EBITDA

17.9x

PEG

0.53

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well4

Margins are improving
EBITDA margin is up from 7.0% to 10.2% over 3 years.
Debt is being paid down
Total debt is down 13% over 3 years.
Return on capital is rising
ROCE has improved from 12.2% to 14.9%.
Consistently profitable
Profitable in every one of the last 4 reported years.

🔴 What Needs Attention0

Nothing stands out as clearly deteriorating on the years of data available.

Red Flags

2 items require attention · 1 high · 1 watch

🔴Free cash flow negative for 3 yearsFinancial
The business has not covered its capital spending from operations for several years running, which has to be funded externally.
🟡Receivables growing faster than salesFinancial
Receivables up 74% against revenue up 34% — sales are being booked faster than they are collected.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Margin expansion has further to run
EBITDA margin has risen from 7.0% to 10.2%. If that holds, profit compounds faster than sales and today's multiple looks cheaper in hindsight than it does now.
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 3.7x EBITDA. At that level a downturn in earnings turns a manageable balance sheet into a refinancing problem, and lenders get paid before shareholders.
Sales are being booked faster than collected
Receivables are up 74% against revenue up 34%. If customers keep taking longer to pay, reported profit will not turn into cash — and write-offs follow if some never do.
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 8% a year✓ 10.2% CAGR
Latest reported year was 10.1%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.
2EBITDA margin holds above 8%✓ 10.2%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
3Debt / EBITDA falls below 3x✗ 3.7x
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✗ -₹2 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
5Interest cover stays above 3x✓ 3.6x
How much operating profit can fall before interest stops being comfortably covered.

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

3 good · 7 neutral · 1 weak

Market Cap

₹80 Cr

Micro Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

33.1x

Fair

Fairly valued against the generic band

P/B Ratio

2.46x

Fair

Moderate premium to the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹3.02

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

9.0%

Moderate

Moderate capital efficiency

ROCE

14.9%

Moderate

Moderate return on the capital in the business

Debt/Equity

0.79x

Moderate

Moderate leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

10.1%

Healthy

Healthy top-line growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

50.0%

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

-₹2 Cr

Cash burning

Spending more cash than the operations bring in

More Metrics

Operating Margin

6.3%

Average

Average margins

Net Margin

4.4%

Average

Average bottom-line conversion

Current Ratio

1.67

Comfortable

Healthy short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

0.54

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

76%

Mid-range

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

88.2 / 86.0

Bullish alignment (short > long)

Price vs SMA 200

Above

Long-term uptrend

RSI (14)

66.7

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹41 Cr	₹62 Cr	₹52 Cr	₹55 Cr	+10.2%
EBITDA	₹3 Cr	₹5 Cr	₹5 Cr	₹6 Cr	+25.0%
EBITDA Margin	7.0%	7.4%	10.4%	10.2%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹1 Cr	₹1 Cr	₹2 Cr	₹2 Cr	+62.3%
EPS	₹0.94	₹2.49	₹2.35	₹3.01	+47.4%
ROE	6.1%	13.9%	8.0%	9.0%	—
ROCE	12.2%	17.4%	13.5%	14.9%	—
Total Debt	₹24 Cr	₹27 Cr	₹20 Cr	₹21 Cr	-4.5%
Free Cash Flow	₹1 Cr	-₹2 Cr	-₹2 Cr	-₹2 Cr	—

🟢 Revenue has grown at 10.2% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA has grown at 25.0% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA Margin has risen from 7.0% to 10.2% over 3 years (+3.2 pts).

🟢 PAT (Net Profit) has grown at 62.3% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EPS has grown at 47.4% a year over 3 years.

🟢 ROE has risen from 6.1% to 9.0% over 3 years (+3.0 pts).

🟢 ROCE has risen from 12.2% to 14.9% over 3 years (+2.6 pts).

🟢 Total Debt has shrunk at 4.5% a year over 3 years.

🔴 Free Cash Flow has turned negative, from ₹1 Cr to -₹2 Cr.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹59 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹33 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹0 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

-₹1 Cr

Capex

-₹1 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

0.0%

Insider Holding

62.7%

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
MAHINDRA & MAHINDRA LTD	17.8x	19.7%
ASHOK LEYLAND LTD	25.2x	24.4%
TATA MOTORS LIMITED	37.1x	32.8%
LARSEN & TOUBRO LTD.	30.1x	15.2%

Recent News

6 general

Cranex Ltd. Upper Circuit Today: Price, Data and Peers

Univest, 23 Sept

Cranex Bags ₹7.18 Crore Orders for EOT Cranes & Handling Systems

HDFC Sky, 22 Sept

Cranex Ltd stock in focus after securing ₹3.65 Cr order for Double Girder EOT crane from BHEL Bhopal

Alice Blue, 17 Mar

Cranex Ltd. Shareholding Pattern – Promoters, FIIs & DIIs

Value Research, 01 Sept

Cranex Ltd wins orders worth Rs 16.03 Cr from BHEL and NHPC for EOT Cranes

scanx.trade, 18 Jul

Stocks to Watch on June 24: NTPC, Lord's Mark Industries, Cranex in Focus

Dalal Street Investment Journal, 23 Jun

Watch Items

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

DalalBaazaar Thesis

StrongGrowth

MiddlingBusiness Quality · Financial Health · Valuation

WeakProfitability · Risk

Points for each in the Score ↑

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.

2 of 5 tripwires tripped — Debt / EBITDA falls below 3x; Free cash flow remains positive · see Key things to watch ↑