Flair Writing Industries Limited

Industrials — Business Equipment & Supplies · NSE

₹238.73+₹4.59 (+1.96%)

DalalBaazaar Score

58 / 100

🟡 Moderate

Verdict

CAUTION

Risk

Very High

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

In simple words: Strong business and financial position, though profits are falling even as sales grow. Debt is the main factor to watch.

Decision support, not a buy or sell call.

As of 18 Oct 2026, 7:01 pm

Understanding the Business

Company site ↗

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

What does this company do?

Flair Writing Industries Limited manufactures and sells writing instruments, stationeries, and other allied products in India and internationally.

IndustryBusiness Equipment & Supplies

SectorIndustrials

Employees7,228

Annual revenue₹1,238 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹1,238 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹11 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹20 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 7,228 employees supports ₹17.1 lakh of revenue a year, the signature of a people-led business.

Revenue / employee₹17.1 lakh

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are LARSEN & TOUBRO LTD., SIEMENS LTD, ABB INDIA LIMITED. 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?Some evidence

ROCE of 15.7% is above what capital typically costs, which suggests some pricing power, though not yet the sustained, wide gap that marks a durable advantage.

Peer median ROE15.2%

What is the outlook?

5 analysts covering the stock expect revenue to grow about 14.8% and earnings to grow about 24.1% in the year to 2028. These are estimates by people who follow the company, not a forecast for the wider industry.

Est. revenue growth+14.8%

Est. earnings growth+24.1%

Analysts5

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 +33% while net margin moved -10% 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+33%

Margin effect-10%

DalalBaazaar Score

58/ 100

Moderate

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✓ Beta of 0.39 — historically steadier than the index
✗ Micro Cap: thinner liquidity and sharper drawdowns are normal
✗ High leverage magnifies any downturn in earnings
✓ Profits have been consistent from year to year
✗ Negative free cash flow means dependence on external funding

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

57/ 100

Average

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

Valuation

67/ 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

18.9x

3Y Median

25.3x

36 monthly readings · mean 24.3x · range 17.3x–31.4x

Sector Median

88.8x

median of 3 sector peers

🟢Current valuation is approximately 25% below its 3y median of 25.3x. 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 88.8x.

vs. its own history

Cheap

25.3x median over 36 months · -25%

vs. sector peers

Cheap

88.8x median of 3 peers · -79%

vs. generic bands

Fair

15x–35x

EV/EBITDA

10.5x

PEG

3.12

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well2

Debt is being paid down
Total debt is down 46% over 3 years.
Consistently profitable
Profitable in every one of the last 4 reported years.

🔴 What Needs Attention2

Return on equity is falling
ROE has dropped from 26.9% to 12.2% — each rupee of shareholder capital earns less than it did.
Return on capital is falling
ROCE has declined from 32.8% to 15.7% — often a sign of competition or overexpansion.

Red Flags

4 items require attention · 2 high · 2 watch

🔴High leverageFinancial
Debt/Equity of 5.80x — earnings must service borrowings before shareholders see anything.
🔴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 60% against revenue up 33% — sales are being booked faster than they are collected.
🟡Inventory building faster than salesFinancial
Inventory up 66% against revenue up 33% — stock may not be moving.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Deleveraging frees up earnings
Debt is down 46% over 3 years. Every rupee of interest not paid drops to the bottom line, so profit can grow even if revenue does not.
Priced below its own history
The stock trades 25% 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 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 5.80x. Interest is payable whether or not the business has a good year.
Sales are being booked faster than collected
Receivables are up 60% against revenue up 33%. If customers keep taking longer to pay, reported profit will not turn into cash — and write-offs follow if some never do.
Returns on shareholder capital are falling
ROE has dropped from 26.9% to 12.2%. 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.
Several serious flags at once
2 high-severity checks triggered. Individually each has an explanation; together they raise the chance that something structural is wrong rather than a one-off.

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

1EBITDA margin holds above 18%✓ 19.7%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
2Free cash flow remains positive✗ -₹4 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
3Revenue growth stays above 7% a year✓ 9.9% CAGR
Latest reported year was 10.6%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.
4Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x✓ 0.3x
The ratio lenders write covenants against; it survives a small or negative equity base, unlike Debt/Equity.
5ROCE stays above 13%✓ 15.7%
Falling returns on capital are usually competition arriving, and show up here before they reach the margin.

Investment Checklist

7 / 12 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
✓ Analyst consensus isn't majority-sell
✗ Short-term technical trend isn't bearish

Price history

Quick Metrics

3 good · 5 neutral · 3 weak

Market Cap

₹2,516 Cr

Micro Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

18.9x

Fair

Fairly valued against the generic band

P/B Ratio

2.20x

Fair

Moderate premium to the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹12.61

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

12.2%

Moderate

Moderate capital efficiency

ROCE

15.7%

Strong

Earns comfortably above its likely cost of capital

Debt/Equity

5.80x

High

High leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

10.6%

Healthy

Healthy top-line growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

-0.4%

Falling

Profits are shrinking

Dividend Yield

0.42%

Modest

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

Free Cash Flow

-₹4 Cr

Cash burning

Spending more cash than the operations bring in

More Metrics

P/E (Forward)

13.2x

Improving

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

Operating Margin

12.2%

Average

Average margins

Net Margin

10.9%

Good

Strong bottom-line conversion

Current Ratio

5.22

Comfortable

Healthy short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

0.39

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

17%

Mid-range

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

232.7 / 241.1

Bearish alignment (short < long)

Price vs SMA 200

Below

Long-term downtrend

RSI (14)

49.7

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹933 Cr	₹969 Cr	₹1,069 Cr	₹1,238 Cr	+9.9%
EBITDA	₹192 Cr	₹204 Cr	₹208 Cr	₹244 Cr	+8.2%
EBITDA Margin	20.6%	21.0%	19.5%	19.7%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹117 Cr	₹119 Cr	₹120 Cr	₹140 Cr	+6.1%
EPS	₹11.12	₹12.19	₹11.35	₹13.26	+6.1%
ROE	26.9%	13.2%	11.7%	12.2%	—
ROCE	32.8%	17.3%	15.1%	15.7%	—
Total Debt	₹123 Cr	₹69 Cr	₹62 Cr	₹66 Cr	-18.7%
Free Cash Flow	₹23 Cr	-₹34 Cr	-₹78 Cr	-₹4 Cr	—

🟢 Revenue has grown at 9.9% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA has grown at 8.2% a year over 3 years.

🟡 EBITDA Margin has held roughly flat at 19.7% over 3 years.

🟢 PAT (Net Profit) has grown at 6.1% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EPS has grown at 6.1% a year over 3 years.

🔴 ROE has fallen from 26.9% to 12.2% over 3 years (-14.7 pts).

🔴 ROCE has fallen from 32.8% to 15.7% over 3 years (-17.0 pts).

🟢 Total Debt has shrunk at 18.7% a year over 3 years.

🔴 Free Cash Flow has turned negative, from ₹23 Cr to -₹4 Cr.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹1,367 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹224 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹11 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

₹137 Cr

Capex

-₹141 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

3.6%

Insider Holding

84.2%

Corporate Actions

Dividend Rate

₹1

Ex-Dividend Date

19 Aug 2026

Analyst Consensus

Recommendations

6 Buy · 0 Hold · 0 Sell

Target Price (Mean)

₹432.67

+81.2% vs CMP

Target Range

₹391 – ₹480

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
LARSEN & TOUBRO LTD.	30.1x	15.2%
SIEMENS LTD	88.8x	10.5%
ABB INDIA LIMITED	92.6x	19.1%

Recent News

2 mixed4 general

Why Is Flair Writing Industries Share Price Falling Key Reasons 2026

Univest, 01 JulPrice move

🟡Mixed / dependsA price move rather than a change in the business. If the figures on this page have not moved, the fall is either an opportunity or news they have yet to catch up with.

Here's Why Flair Writing Industries (NSE:FLAIR) Has Caught The Eye Of Investors

Simply Wall Street, 23 May

Antique initiates on Flair Writing Industries with 'Buy', sees 60% upside

Business Standard, 17 Apr

Flair (FLAIR.NS) Stock Analysis: -2.04% Decline — Is ₹212.14 Next? 2026-10-08 - Straddle Setup

https://www.siam.in/, 08 Oct

Flair Writing Industries Subscribes To ₹100 Crore Rights Issue Of FWEPL Subsidiary

Sahi, 01 Sept

Flair Writing Bags ₹20 Crore Orders; Shares Gain 1.68%

HDFC Sky, 22 JunPrice 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.

Watch Items

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

DalalBaazaar Thesis

StrongValuation

MiddlingBusiness Quality · Financial Health · Growth · Profitability · 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. 2 high-severity red flags sit above this conclusion and should be read first.

1 of 5 tripwires tripped — Free cash flow remains positive · see Key things to watch ↑