Foods and Inns Limited

Consumer Defensive — Packaged Foods · NSE

₹47.00−₹0.46 (−0.97%)

DalalBaazaar Score

47 / 100

🟡 Moderate

Verdict

CAUTION

Risk

Moderate

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

In simple words: The business is earning a fairly low return on the money invested in it, but sales are shrinking. The direction of profits is 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 Foods and Inns Limited — what it does, how it earns, and who it competes with, before any of the numbers below.

What does this company do?

Foods and Inns Limited manufactures and sells various processed fruits and vegetables, pulps, purees, spices, spray-dried powders, and frozen food in India and internationally.

IndustryPackaged Foods

SectorConsumer Defensive

Employees642

Annual revenue₹825 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹825 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹3 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹14 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 642 employees supports ₹1.29 Cr of revenue a year, the signature of a capital- or asset-led business.

Revenue / employee₹1.29 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.

Compared side by side in Peers ↓

What is its competitive advantage?Little sign of one

Returns on capital of 13.7% 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 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 -17% while net margin moved -30% 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-17%

Margin effect-30%

DalalBaazaar Score

47/ 100

Moderate

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✗ Revenue has contracted at 6.0% a year
✗ Profit has declined at 16.4% a year
✗ Latest-year revenue growth of -33.3% is below the longer-term trend — momentum is fading
✗ Profit fell 45.3% in the latest year

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

39/ 100

Weak

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

Valuation

80/ 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

14.0x

3Y Median

15.8x

40 monthly readings · mean 15.7x · range 7.6x–23.7x

Sector Median

51.7x

median of 4 sector peers

🟢Current valuation is approximately 12% below its 3y median of 15.8x. 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 73% below the peer median of 51.7x.

vs. its own history

Fair

15.8x median over 40 months · -12%

vs. sector peers

Cheap

51.7x median of 4 peers · -73%

vs. generic bands

Cheap

Below 15x

EV/EBITDA

6.9x

PEG

—

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well3

Margins are improving
EBITDA margin is up from 10.8% to 13.6% 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 Attention2

Return on equity is falling
ROE has dropped from 15.2% to 4.9% — each rupee of shareholder capital earns less than it did.
Return on capital is falling
ROCE has declined from 24.7% to 13.7% — often a sign of competition or overexpansion.

Red Flags

5 items require attention · 2 high · 3 watch

🔴Thin interest coverageFinancial
Operating profit covers interest only 1.9x — little room if earnings dip.
🔴Inventory building faster than salesFinancial
Inventory up 92% against revenue up -17% — stock may not be moving.
🟡Debt is increasingFinancial
Total debt is up 26% over 3 years.
🟡Profit is decliningFinancial
Net profit is down 42% over 3 years.
🟡Shareholders have been dilutedOwnership
Shares outstanding are up 44% over 3 years — each existing share owns a smaller slice of the company.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Margin expansion has further to run
EBITDA margin has risen from 10.8% to 13.6%. If that holds, profit compounds faster than sales and today's multiple looks cheaper in hindsight than it does now.
Cheaper than its peers
It trades 73% 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 3.8x EBITDA. At that level a downturn in earnings turns a manageable balance sheet into a refinancing problem, and lenders get paid before shareholders.
Returns on shareholder capital are falling
ROE has dropped from 15.2% to 4.9%. 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 12%✓ 13.6%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
2Debt / EBITDA falls below 3x✗ 3.8x
Already stretched, so this is a reduction target rather than a level to hold. Around 3x is where lenders typically start attaching conditions.
3Interest cover stays above 3x✗ 1.9x
How much operating profit can fall before interest stops being comfortably covered.
4Free cash flow remains positive✓ ₹94 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
5ROCE stays above 11%✓ 13.7%
Falling returns on capital are usually competition arriving, and show up here before they reach the margin.

Investment Checklist

5 / 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

4 good · 4 neutral · 3 weak

Market Cap

₹346 Cr

Micro Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

14.0x

Cheap

Cheap against the generic band

P/B Ratio

0.60x

Reasonable

Reasonable against the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹3.36

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

4.9%

Weak

Weak capital efficiency

ROCE

13.7%

Moderate

Moderate return on the capital in the business

Debt/Equity

0.76x

Moderate

Moderate leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

-33.3%

Shrinking

Sales are contracting

Profit Growth (YoY)

-45.3%

Falling

Profits are shrinking

Dividend Yield

0.64%

Modest

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

Free Cash Flow

₹94 Cr

Cash generative

Generates cash even after funding its capex

More Metrics

P/E (Forward)

6.4x

Improving

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

Operating Margin

9.3%

Average

Average margins

Net Margin

3.1%

Average

Average bottom-line conversion

Current Ratio

1.41

Comfortable

Healthy short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

0.82

Market-like

Moves roughly in line with the market

52W Range Position

Near low

Near its 52-week low

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

50.7 / 53.0

Bearish alignment (short < long)

Price vs SMA 200

Below

Long-term downtrend

RSI (14)

26.3

Oversold zone

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹993 Cr	₹980 Cr	₹957 Cr	₹825 Cr	-6.0%
EBITDA	₹107 Cr	₹130 Cr	₹128 Cr	₹112 Cr	+1.6%
EBITDA Margin	10.8%	13.3%	13.4%	13.6%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹47 Cr	₹37 Cr	₹42 Cr	₹28 Cr	-16.4%
EPS	₹8.33	₹6.16	₹6.02	₹3.77	-23.2%
ROE	15.2%	9.2%	7.8%	4.9%	—
ROCE	24.7%	22.3%	17.2%	13.7%	—
Total Debt	₹342 Cr	₹469 Cr	₹440 Cr	₹432 Cr	+8.0%
Free Cash Flow	-₹143 Cr	-₹86 Cr	-₹42 Cr	₹94 Cr	—

🔴 Revenue has shrunk at 6.0% a year over 3 years.

🟡 EBITDA has been broadly flat over 3 years (1.6% a year).

🟢 EBITDA Margin has risen from 10.8% to 13.6% over 3 years (+2.8 pts).

🔴 PAT (Net Profit) has shrunk at 16.4% a year over 3 years.

🔴 EPS has shrunk at 23.2% a year over 3 years.

🔴 ROE has fallen from 15.2% to 4.9% over 3 years (-10.3 pts).

🔴 ROCE has fallen from 24.7% to 13.7% over 3 years (-11.1 pts).

🔴 Total Debt has grown at 8.0% a year over 3 years.

🟢 Free Cash Flow has turned positive, from -₹143 Cr to ₹94 Cr.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹1,301 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹735 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹2 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

₹132 Cr

Capex

-₹38 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

12.2%

Insider Holding

47.9%

Corporate Actions

Dividend Rate

₹0.3

Ex-Dividend Date

18 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 negative5 general

Is Foods and Inns (NSE:FOODSIN) A Risky Investment?

Simply Wall Street, 05 Feb

Foods & Inns vs Nifty 50: Share Price Performance Compared

Univest, 23 Sept

Foods & Inns Ltd. Actuals & Estimates (NSE:FOODSIN)

TradingView, 26 Jun

Foods & Inns FY26 PAT falls 35% to ₹28 crore, revenue dips 12%

scanx.trade, 25 May

Foods & Inns Share Price Forecast: 3 Year Outlook to 2030

Univest, 16 Jul

Foods & Inns Q1FY27 profit falls 46%; exports face freight headwinds

scanx.trade, 13 AugResults

🔴Potentially negativeReported deterioration, which feeds the growth and margin inputs on this page directly.

Watch Items

Revenue growth is negative (-33.3%) on the latest reported period — check if this is one-off or a trend.
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.
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

StrongValuation

MiddlingBusiness Quality · Financial Health · Risk

WeakGrowth · Profitability

Points for each in the Score ↑

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

2 of 5 tripwires tripped — Debt / EBITDA falls below 3x; Interest cover stays above 3x · see Key things to watch ↑