IFGL Refractories Limited

Basic Materials — Building Materials · NSE

₹180.80+₹3.22 (+1.81%)

DalalBaazaar Score

45 / 100

🟡 Moderate

Verdict

CAUTION

Risk

Moderate

Driven by negative free cash flow, 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. Cash generation is currently the main factor to watch.

Decision support, not a buy or sell call.

As of 18 Oct 2026, 8:28 pm

Understanding the Business

Company site ↗

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

What does this company do?

IFGL Refractories Limited manufactures, trades in, and sells refractory items, and related equipment and accessories used in steel plants in India and internationally.

IndustryBuilding Materials

SectorBasic Materials

Employees1,180

Annual revenue₹1,887 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹1,887 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹2 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹8 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 1,180 employees supports ₹1.60 Cr of revenue a year, the signature of a capital- or asset-led business.

Revenue / employee₹1.60 Cr

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are ULTRATECH CEMENT LIMITED, GRASIM INDUSTRIES LTD, AMBUJA CEMENTS LTD, SHREE CEMENT 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?Little sign of one

Returns on capital of 4.9% 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 ROE7.4%

What has been driving growth?

Profit has moved mainly because margins changed, not because the business sold much more. Over 3 years revenue moved +38% while net margin moved -68% 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+38%

Margin effect-68%

DalalBaazaar Score

45/ 100

Moderate

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✗ ROCE of 4.9% is below 10% — capital is not working hard
✗ ROCE has fallen by 5.0 points — returns are eroding
✗ EBITDA margin of 7.6% is thin — little cushion if costs rise
✗ Net margin of 2.1% is slim
• Revenue has compounded at 11.2% a year, which is the base these returns are earned on

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

42/ 100

Weak

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

Valuation

62/ 100

Fair

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

31.8x

3Y Median

28.6x

40 monthly readings · mean 29.1x · range 15.2x–49.3x

Sector Median

36.2x

median of 4 sector peers

⚠️Current valuation is approximately 11% above its 3y median of 28.6x. Paying more than usual needs a reason — faster growth, a better balance sheet, or a re-rating you believe in.

🟡Against its sector it is priced broadly in line with the peer median of 36.2x.

vs. its own history

Fair

28.6x median over 40 months · +11%

vs. sector peers

Fair

36.2x median of 4 peers · -12%

vs. generic bands

Fair

15x–35x

EV/EBITDA

10.1x

PEG

—

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well2

Very low debt
Debt/Equity of 0.18x leaves the balance sheet with plenty of headroom.
Consistently profitable
Profitable in every one of the last 4 reported years.

🔴 What Needs Attention2

Return on equity is falling
ROE has dropped from 7.9% to 3.0% — each rupee of shareholder capital earns less than it did.
Return on capital is falling
ROCE has declined from 9.9% to 4.9% — often a sign of competition or overexpansion.

Red Flags

4 items require attention · 4 watch

🟡Debt is increasingFinancial
Total debt is up 30% over 3 years.
🟡Free cash flow is negativeFinancial
Free cash flow was -₹0 Cr in the latest year.
🟡Profit is decliningFinancial
Net profit is down 56% over 3 years.
🟡Margins are compressingFinancial
EBITDA margin is down 4.2 points 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?

Margins are being competed away
EBITDA margin has fallen from 11.8% to 7.6%. If the trend continues, profit falls even on flat sales — and margin decline rarely reverses quickly.
Returns on shareholder capital are falling
ROE has dropped from 7.9% to 3.0%. 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.

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

1Revenue growth stays above 8% a year✓ 11.2% CAGR
Latest reported year was 12.9%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.
2EBITDA margin holds above 6%✓ 7.6%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
3Free cash flow remains positive✗ -₹0 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
4Interest cover stays above 3x✓ 3.9x
How much operating profit can fall before interest stops being comfortably covered.
5Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x✓ 1.4x
The ratio lenders write covenants against; it survives a small or negative equity base, unlike Debt/Equity.

Investment Checklist

6 / 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 · 3 neutral · 3 weak

Market Cap

₹1,303 Cr

Micro Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

31.8x

Fair

Fairly valued against the generic band

P/B Ratio

1.11x

Reasonable

Reasonable against the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹5.68

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

3.0%

Weak

Weak capital efficiency

ROCE

4.9%

Weak

Low return on total capital employed

Debt/Equity

0.18x

Low

Conservative leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

12.9%

Healthy

Healthy top-line growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

58.0%

Healthy

Profits growing at a healthy clip

Dividend Yield

1.19%

Modest

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

Free Cash Flow

-₹0 Cr

Cash burning

Spending more cash than the operations bring in

More Metrics

P/E (Forward)

11.0x

Improving

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

Operating Margin

4.6%

Weak

Thin margins leave little room for error

Net Margin

2.1%

Weak

Very little revenue reaches the bottom line

Current Ratio

2.34

Comfortable

Healthy short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

1.02

Market-like

Moves roughly in line with the market

52W Range Position

41%

Mid-range

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

187.8 / 202.8

Bearish alignment (short < long)

Price vs SMA 200

Below

Long-term downtrend

RSI (14)

31.0

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹1,372 Cr	₹1,631 Cr	₹1,642 Cr	₹1,887 Cr	+11.2%
EBITDA	₹162 Cr	₹165 Cr	₹135 Cr	₹144 Cr	-3.8%
EBITDA Margin	11.8%	10.1%	8.2%	7.6%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹79 Cr	₹82 Cr	₹43 Cr	₹35 Cr	-24.1%
EPS	₹10.99	₹11.33	₹5.97	₹4.81	-24.1%
ROE	7.9%	7.6%	3.9%	3.0%	—
ROCE	9.9%	9.2%	6.1%	4.9%	—
Total Debt	₹160 Cr	₹174 Cr	₹213 Cr	₹209 Cr	+9.2%
Free Cash Flow	-₹130 Cr	₹17 Cr	-₹45 Cr	-₹0 Cr	—

🟢 Revenue has grown at 11.2% a year over 3 years.

🔴 EBITDA has shrunk at 3.8% a year over 3 years.

🔴 EBITDA Margin has fallen from 11.8% to 7.6% over 3 years (-4.2 pts).

🔴 PAT (Net Profit) has shrunk at 24.1% a year over 3 years.

🔴 EPS has shrunk at 24.1% a year over 3 years.

🔴 ROE has fallen from 7.9% to 3.0% over 3 years (-4.9 pts).

🔴 ROCE has fallen from 9.9% to 4.9% over 3 years (-5.0 pts).

🔴 Total Debt has grown at 9.2% a year over 3 years.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹1,673 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹498 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹53 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

₹63 Cr

Capex

-₹64 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

12.1%

Insider Holding

75.9%

Corporate Actions

Dividend Rate

₹2.15

Ex-Dividend Date

29 Jul 2026

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
ULTRATECH CEMENT LIMITED	37.6x	11.1%
GRASIM INDUSTRIES LTD	34.8x	5.5%
AMBUJA CEMENTS LTD	20.4x	7.4%
SHREE CEMENT LIMITED	49.7x	7.0%

Recent News

1 positive4 mixed1 general

IFGL Refractories Share Price - Live NSE: IFGLEXPOR Stock Price & Chart

Upstox, 16 Oct

IFGL Refractories Share Price Target 2027, 2028 and 2030: Long Term Analyst Forecast

Univest, 07 AugAnalyst view

🟡Mixed / dependsBroker commentary — an opinion about the price rather than new information about the business.

IFGL Refractories shares surge 12%, jumps 42% in 6 months; time to book profits or buy more?

TradingView, 09 SeptPrice 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.

IFGL Refractories shares surge 12%, jump 42% in 6 months; time to book profits or buy more?

Livemint, 09 SeptPrice 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.

IFGL Refractories consolidated net profit rises 57.82% in the June 2026 quarter

Business Standard, 08 AugResults

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

IFGL Refractories terminates JV with Marvels International Group

scanx.trade, 14 OctPartnership

🟡Mixed / dependsA partnership, whose value depends entirely on terms that a headline will not carry. Worth reading the filing before assuming either way.

Watch Items

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

DalalBaazaar Thesis

StrongFinancial Health

MiddlingValuation · Risk

WeakBusiness Quality · Growth · Profitability

Points for each in the Score ↑

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.

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