DIC India Limited

Basic Materials — Specialty Chemicals · NSE

₹590.00−₹0.30 (−0.05%)

DalalBaazaar Score

47 / 100

🟡 Moderate

Verdict

NEUTRAL

Risk

Moderate

Driven by micro-cap size, which brings thin liquidity.

In simple words: The business is earning a fairly low return on the money invested in it, with both sales and profits growing well. Thin profit margins are the main factor to watch.

Decision support, not a buy or sell call.

As of 18 Oct 2026, 6:08 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 DIC India Limited — what it does, how it earns, and who it competes with, before any of the numbers below.

What does this company do?

DIC India Limited manufactures and sells printing inks and allied material in India.

IndustrySpecialty Chemicals

SectorBasic Materials

Employees354

Annual revenue₹888 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹888 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹2 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹5 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 354 employees supports ₹2.51 Cr of revenue a year, the signature of a capital- or asset-led business.

EBITDA margin5.2%

Net margin2.0%

Revenue / employee₹2.51 Cr

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 5.8% 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.

ROCE5.8%

ROE4.1%

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 +2% while net margin moved -59% 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+2%

Margin effect-59%

DalalBaazaar Score

47/ 100

Moderate

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✗ Revenue CAGR of only 0.8% — barely ahead of inflation
✗ Profit has declined at 24.9% a year

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

43/ 100

Weak

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

Valuation

70/ 100

Cheap

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

Optically cheap, but the underlying business scores poorly. Cheap-and-weak is what a value trap looks like from the outside — the low price may be deserved.

Historical Valuation

Current P/E

18.7x

4Y Median

16.0x

44 monthly readings · mean 19.1x · range 8.8x–33.6x

Sector Median

40.4x

median of 4 sector peers

⚠️Current valuation is approximately 17% above its 4y median of 16.0x. Paying more than usual needs a reason — faster growth, a better balance sheet, or a re-rating you believe in.

🟢Against its sector it trades 54% below the peer median of 40.4x.

vs. its own history

Fair

16.0x median over 44 months · +17%

vs. sector peers

Cheap

40.4x median of 4 peers · -54%

vs. generic bands

Fair

15x–35x

P/E (Trailing)

18.7x

P/B

1.22x

EV/EBITDA

10.5x

PEG

—

Dividend Yield

0.51%

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well3

Margins are improving
EBITDA margin is up from 3.2% to 5.2% over 3 years.
Debt is being paid down
Total debt is down 83% over 3 years.
Cash flow has turned positive
Free cash flow moved from negative to positive over 3 years.

🔴 What Needs Attention2

Return on equity is falling
ROE has dropped from 9.7% to 4.1% — each rupee of shareholder capital earns less than it did.
Return on capital is falling
ROCE has declined from 10.7% to 5.8% — often a sign of competition or overexpansion.

Red Flags

1 item require attention · 1 watch

🟡Profit is decliningFinancial
Net profit is down 58% over 3 years.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Margin expansion has further to run
EBITDA margin has risen from 3.2% to 5.2%. If that holds, profit compounds faster than sales and today's multiple looks cheaper in hindsight than it does now.
Deleveraging frees up earnings
Debt is down 83% 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 54% below the sector median. Either the market sees a problem the numbers do not show, or the discount closes.

🔴 Bear CaseWhat could go wrong?

Growth barely outpaces inflation
Revenue compounding at 0.8% 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.
Returns on shareholder capital are falling
ROE has dropped from 9.7% to 4.1%. 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.
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 3%✓ 5.2%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
2Revenue growth stays above 4% a year✗ 0.8% CAGR
Latest reported year was 25.4%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.
3Free cash flow remains positive✓ ₹31 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
4Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x✓ 0.1x
The ratio lenders write covenants against; it survives a small or negative equity base, unlike Debt/Equity.
5ROCE stays above 8%✗ 5.8%
Falling returns on capital are usually competition arriving, and show up here before they reach the margin.

Investment Checklist

8 / 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

5 good · 4 neutral · 2 weak

Market Cap

₹542 Cr

Micro Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

18.7x

Fair

Fairly valued against the generic band

P/B Ratio

1.22x

Reasonable

Reasonable against the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹31.52

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

4.1%

Weak

Weak capital efficiency

ROCE

5.8%

Weak

Low return on total capital employed

Debt/Equity

0.74x

Moderate

Moderate leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

25.4%

Healthy

Healthy top-line growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

227.2%

Healthy

Profits growing at a healthy clip

Dividend Yield

0.51%

Modest

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

Free Cash Flow

₹31 Cr

Cash generative

Generates cash even after funding its capex

More Metrics

CMP

₹590

P/E (Forward)

13.8x

Improving

Below the trailing multiple — the street expects earnings to grow into the price

Operating Margin

6.8%

Average

Average margins

Net Margin

2.9%

Weak

Very little revenue reaches the bottom line

Current Ratio

2.04

Comfortable

Healthy short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

0.12

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

62%

Mid-range

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

619.8 / 597.3

Bullish alignment (short > long)

Price vs SMA 200

Above

Long-term uptrend

RSI (14)

36.3

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY22	FY23	FY24	FY25	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹868 Cr	₹826 Cr	₹878 Cr	₹888 Cr	+0.8%
EBITDA	₹28 Cr	₹16 Cr	₹45 Cr	₹46 Cr	+17.6%
EBITDA Margin	3.2%	1.9%	5.2%	5.2%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹41 Cr	-₹23 Cr	₹20 Cr	₹17 Cr	-24.9%
EPS	₹44.65	₹-24.7	₹21.29	₹18.93	-24.9%
ROE	9.7%	-5.7%	4.7%	4.1%	—
ROCE	10.7%	-6.0%	6.6%	5.8%	—
Total Debt	₹24 Cr	₹20 Cr	₹3 Cr	₹4 Cr	-44.6%
Free Cash Flow	-₹33 Cr	-₹28 Cr	₹8 Cr	₹31 Cr	—

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

🟢 EBITDA has grown at 17.6% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA Margin has risen from 3.2% to 5.2% over 3 years (+1.9 pts).

🔴 PAT (Net Profit) has shrunk at 24.9% a year over 3 years.

🔴 EPS has shrunk at 24.9% a year over 3 years.

🔴 ROE has fallen from 9.7% to 4.1% over 3 years (-5.7 pts).

🔴 ROCE has fallen from 10.7% to 5.8% over 3 years (-5.0 pts).

🟢 Total Debt has shrunk at 44.6% a year over 3 years.

🟢 Free Cash Flow has turned positive, from -₹33 Cr to ₹31 Cr.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2025

Total Assets

₹630 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹202 Cr

Total Debt

₹4 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹65 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

₹43 Cr

Capex

-₹11 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

0.0%

Insider Holding

82.3%

Corporate Actions

Dividend Rate

₹3

Ex-Dividend Date

16 Mar 2026

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 positive5 general

DIC India Limited (DICIND.NS) Slips 1.81% to ₹596.95, Sitting at the Midpoint of Its Trading Band - Schiff Line

https://www.siam.in/, 15 Oct

DIC India gets DRP directions on FY23 transfer pricing adjustments

scanx.trade, 02 Oct

DIC India standalone net profit rises 227.29% in the June 2026 quarter

Business Standard, 13 AugResults

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

DIC India Bull Case vs Bear Case for 2026

Univest, 10 Sept

Volume Gainers, August 13, 2026, 3:30 PM IST

HDFC Sky, 13 Aug

INDOKEM Stock Price and Chart — NSE:INDOKEM

TradingView, 17 Aug

Watch Items

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

DalalBaazaar Thesis

🔴Business QualityWeak5.9/20

🟢Financial HealthStrong16.6/20

🔴GrowthWeak5/20

🔴ProfitabilityWeak4.6/15

🟢ValuationAttractive10.6/15

🔴RiskHigh4.4/10

Cheap, but for a reason

The low price is the whole case here, and the business underneath scores poorly. Cheap-and-weak is what a value trap looks like from the outside — it needs a specific reason the numbers are about to improve, not just the observation that they are low.

This thesis breaks if

✓EBITDA margin holds above 3%5.2%
✗Revenue growth stays above 4% a year0.8% CAGR
✓Free cash flow remains positive₹31 Cr
✓Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x0.1x
✗ROCE stays above 8%5.8%