HLV Limited

Consumer Cyclical — Lodging · NSE

₹6.22+₹0.03 (+0.48%)

DalalBaazaar Score

40 / 100

🟡 Moderate

Verdict

CAUTION

Risk

Very High

Driven by high debt relative to equity, micro-cap size, which brings thin liquidity, a very high earnings multiple, which leaves little margin for disappointment.

In simple words: The business is earning a fairly low return on the money invested in it, 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, 6:10 pm

Caution warranted. Multiple fundamental metrics — flagged in red below — point to either valuation stretch, leverage risk, or weakening profitability. This doesn't mean avoid the stock outright, but it does mean the burden of proof is on the growth story to justify the current price.

Understanding the Business

Company site ↗

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

What does this company do?

HLV Limited engages in owning, operating, and managing hotels, palaces, and resorts in India. It owns and operates The Leela Mumbai hotel. The company was formerly known as Hotel Leelaventure Limited and changed its name to HLV Limited in December 2019.

IndustryLodging

SectorConsumer Cyclical

Employees387

Annual revenue₹201 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹201 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹1 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹14 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 387 employees supports ₹51.9 lakh of revenue a year, the signature of a people-led business.

EBITDA margin13.5%

Net margin1.0%

Revenue / employee₹51.9 lakh

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are MARUTI SUZUKI INDIA LTD., TITAN COMPANY LIMITED, TRENT LTD, AVENUE SUPERMARTS LIMITED. These are the companies its valuation and returns are measured against elsewhere in this report.

MARUTI SUZUKI INDIA LTD.P/E 25.2x · ROE 13.4%

TITAN COMPANY LIMITEDP/E 68.5x · ROE 36.7%

TRENT LTDP/E 87.2x · ROE 25.9%

AVENUE SUPERMARTS LIMITEDP/E 69.9x · ROE 12.7%

What is its competitive advantage?Little sign of one

Returns on capital of 1.0% 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.

ROCE1.0%

ROE0.4%

Peer median ROE25.9%

What has been driving growth?

Profit has moved mainly because margins changed, not because the business sold much more. Over 3 years revenue moved +16% while net margin moved -77% 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+16%

Margin effect-77%

DalalBaazaar Score

40/ 100

Moderate

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✗ Revenue CAGR of only 5.1% — barely ahead of inflation
✗ Profit has declined at 35.2% a year
✗ Profit is compounding slower than revenue — margins are being squeezed as the business grows
✗ Profit fell 92.0% in the latest year

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

39/ 100

Weak

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

Valuation

32/ 100

Expensive

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

Weak on business quality and not cheap enough to compensate.

Historical Valuation

Current P/E

88.9x

3Y Median

51.0x

40 monthly readings · mean 102.7x · range 14.3x–285.8x

Sector Median

69.2x

median of 4 sector peers

⚠️Current valuation is approximately 74% above its 3y median of 51.0x. 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 28% above the peer median of 69.2x.

vs. its own history

Expensive

51.0x median over 40 months · +74%

vs. sector peers

Expensive

69.2x median of 4 peers · +28%

vs. generic bands

Expensive

Above 35x

P/E (Trailing)

88.9x

P/B

0.87x

EV/EBITDA

15.6x

PEG

—

Dividend Yield

None

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well1

Consistently profitable
Profitable in every one of the last 4 reported years.

🔴 What Needs Attention1

Valuation above its historical average
At 88.9x the stock trades 74% above its own median of 51.0x.

Red Flags

4 items require attention · 2 high · 2 watch

🔴High leverageFinancial
Debt/Equity of 7.49x — earnings must service borrowings before shareholders see anything.
🔴Thin interest coverageFinancial
Operating profit covers interest only 1.7x — little room if earnings dip.
🟡Interest coverage is deterioratingFinancial
Cover has fallen from 12.9x to 1.7x.
🟡Profit is decliningFinancial
Net profit is down 73% over 3 years.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

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 7.49x. Interest is payable whether or not the business has a good year.
The price already assumes success
The stock trades 74% above its own median multiple. At this level the business has to deliver just to stand still, and a stumble is repriced twice — lower earnings on a lower multiple.
Growth barely outpaces inflation
Revenue compounding at 5.1% 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.
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 12%✓ 13.5%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
2Interest cover stays above 3x✗ 1.7x
How much operating profit can fall before interest stops being comfortably covered.
3Revenue growth stays above 4% a year✓ 5.1% CAGR
Latest reported year was 14.6%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.
4Free cash flow remains positive✓ ₹5 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
5Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x✓ 1.3x
The ratio lenders write covenants against; it survives a small or negative equity base, unlike Debt/Equity.

Investment Checklist

4 / 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 · 2 neutral · 5 weak

Market Cap

₹410 Cr

Micro Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

88.9x

Expensive

Expensive — verify against sector peers

P/B Ratio

0.87x

Reasonable

Reasonable against the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹0.07

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

0.4%

Weak

Weak capital efficiency

ROCE

1.0%

Weak

Low return on total capital employed

Debt/Equity

7.49x

High

High leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

14.6%

Healthy

Healthy top-line growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

-92.0%

Falling

Profits are shrinking

Dividend Yield

None

No dividend yield reported — usually means no payout, but verify if one was recently initiated

Free Cash Flow

₹5 Cr

Cash generative

Generates cash even after funding its capex

More Metrics

CMP

₹6.22

Operating Margin

-7.3%

Weak

Thin margins leave little room for error

Net Margin

2.3%

Weak

Very little revenue reaches the bottom line

Current Ratio

1.75

Comfortable

Healthy short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

0.59

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

10%

Near low

Near its 52-week low

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

6.3 / 6.5

Bearish alignment (short < long)

Price vs SMA 200

Below

Long-term downtrend

RSI (14)

30.6

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹173 Cr	₹199 Cr	₹203 Cr	₹201 Cr	+5.1%
EBITDA	₹22 Cr	₹41 Cr	₹43 Cr	₹27 Cr	+7.0%
EBITDA Margin	12.8%	20.4%	21.3%	13.5%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹8 Cr	₹24 Cr	₹26 Cr	₹2 Cr	-35.2%
EPS	₹0.12	₹0.36	₹0.4	₹0.03	-37.0%
ROE	1.8%	5.4%	5.6%	0.4%	—
ROCE	2.9%	5.6%	5.7%	1.0%	—
Total Debt	₹33 Cr	₹34 Cr	₹41 Cr	₹35 Cr	+2.5%
Free Cash Flow	₹35 Cr	₹24 Cr	₹23 Cr	₹5 Cr	-47.1%

🟢 Revenue has grown at 5.1% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA has grown at 7.0% a year over 3 years.

🟡 EBITDA Margin has held roughly flat at 13.5% over 3 years.

🔴 PAT (Net Profit) has shrunk at 35.2% a year over 3 years.

🔴 EPS has shrunk at 37.0% a year over 3 years.

🔴 ROE has fallen from 1.8% to 0.4% over 3 years (-1.4 pts).

🔴 ROCE has fallen from 2.9% to 1.0% over 3 years (-2.0 pts).

🔴 Total Debt has grown at 2.5% a year over 3 years.

🔴 Free Cash Flow has shrunk at 47.1% a year over 3 years.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹642 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹171 Cr

Total Debt

₹35 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹20 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

₹36 Cr

Capex

-₹31 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

1.3%

Insider Holding

72.4%

Corporate Actions

Ex-Dividend Date

21 Jun 2011

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
MARUTI SUZUKI INDIA LTD.	25.2x	13.4%
TITAN COMPANY LIMITED	68.5x	36.7%
TRENT LTD	87.2x	25.9%
AVENUE SUPERMARTS LIMITED	69.9x	12.7%

Recent News

6 general

HLV Share Price Forecast: 3 Year Outlook to 2030

Univest, 17 Jul

HLV Ltd. Shareholding Pattern – Promoters, FIIs & DIIs

Value Research, 30 Aug

HLV Limited's (NSE:HLVLTD) Shares May Have Run Too Fast Too Soon

Simply Wall Street, 11 Feb

HLV Limited net profit plunges 92% in FY26 due to Labour Code costs

scanx.trade, 04 Aug

HLV Limited (HLVLTD.NS) Climbs 8.47% to ₹6.79 as Hotel Stock Nears Key Resistance - Ichimoku Kumo Twist

siam.in, 16 Sept

HLV vs Nifty 50: Share Price Performance Compared

Univest, 28 Sept

Watch Items

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

DalalBaazaar Thesis

🟡Business QualityAdequate9/20

🟡Financial HealthAdequate10.3/20

🔴GrowthWeak5.7/20

🔴ProfitabilityWeak4.5/15

🔴ValuationDemanding6.2/15

🔴RiskHigh3.9/10

Weak on the fundamentals

Poor scores on business quality without a price low enough to compensate. There is no obvious argument for owning this over a stronger company at a similar valuation. 2 high-severity red flags sit above this conclusion and should be read first.

This thesis breaks if

✓EBITDA margin holds above 12%13.5%
✗Interest cover stays above 3x1.7x
✓Revenue growth stays above 4% a year5.1% CAGR
✓Free cash flow remains positive₹5 Cr
✓Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x1.3x