Indian Sucrose Limited

Consumer Defensive — Confectioners · BSE

₹75.50+₹1.85 (+2.51%)

DalalBaazaar Score

53 / 100

🟡 Moderate

Verdict

CAUTION

Risk

High

Driven by negative free cash flow, micro-cap size, which brings thin liquidity, falling profits.

In simple words: Strong business and financial position, but sales are shrinking. Cash generation is currently the main factor to watch.

Decision support, not a buy or sell call.

As of 18 Oct 2026, 7:49 pm

Understanding the Business

Company site ↗

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

What does this company do?

Indian Sucrose Limited manufactures and sells sugar and allied products in India. It operates through two segments: Sugar and Cogeneration of Power.

IndustryConfectioners

SectorConsumer Defensive

Employees403

Annual revenue₹500 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹500 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹6 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹19 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 403 employees supports ₹1.24 Cr of revenue a year, the signature of a capital- or asset-led business.

Revenue / employee₹1.24 Cr

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are HINDUSTAN UNILEVER LTD., ITC LTD, NESTLE INDIA LIMITED, BRITANNIA INDUSTRIES 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?Some evidence

ROCE of 19.5% 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 ROE51.0%

What has been driving growth?

Sales and margins have both contributed to where profit is now. Over 3 years revenue moved +16% while net margin moved -11% 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-11%

DalalBaazaar Score

53/ 100

Moderate

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✗ Revenue CAGR of only 5.1% — barely ahead of inflation
✗ Profit CAGR of only 1.2%
✗ Latest-year revenue growth of -39.1% is below the longer-term trend — momentum is fading
✗ Profit fell 81.6% in the latest year

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

47/ 100

Average

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.

A reasonable business at a reasonable price — neither the quality nor the valuation stands out in either direction.

Historical Valuation

Current P/E

4.3x

3Y Median

4.8x

40 monthly readings · mean 4.8x · range 3.0x–6.9x

Sector Median

43.3x

median of 4 sector peers

🟢Current valuation is approximately 10% below its 3y median of 4.8x. 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 90% below the peer median of 43.3x.

vs. its own history

Fair

4.8x median over 40 months · -10%

vs. sector peers

Cheap

43.3x median of 4 peers · -90%

vs. generic bands

Cheap

Below 15x

EV/EBITDA

2.7x

PEG

3.58

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well2

Debt is being paid down
Total debt is down 14% 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 16.5% to 10.7% — each rupee of shareholder capital earns less than it did.
Return on capital is falling
ROCE has declined from 27.9% to 19.5% — often a sign of competition or overexpansion.

Red Flags

2 items require attention · 1 high · 1 watch

🔴Receivables growing faster than salesFinancial
Receivables up 196% against revenue up 16% — sales are being booked faster than they are collected.
🟡Free cash flow is negativeFinancial
Free cash flow was -₹45 Cr in the latest year.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Capital compounds at a high rate
ROCE of 19.5% means each rupee reinvested earns well above what capital costs. If the company can keep deploying at this rate, growth creates value rather than just consuming cash.
Cheaper than its peers
It trades 90% 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?

Sales are being booked faster than collected
Receivables are up 196% against revenue up 16%. If customers keep taking longer to pay, reported profit will not turn into cash — and write-offs follow if some never do.
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.
Returns on shareholder capital are falling
ROE has dropped from 16.5% to 10.7%. 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

1EBITDA margin holds above 17%✓ 18.7%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
2Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x✗ 2.1x
The ratio lenders write covenants against; it survives a small or negative equity base, unlike Debt/Equity.
3Free cash flow remains positive✗ -₹45 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
4Interest cover stays above 3x✗ 2.9x
How much operating profit can fall before interest stops being comfortably covered.
5Revenue growth stays above 4% a year✓ 5.1% CAGR
Latest reported year was -39.1%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.

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

₹131 Cr

Micro Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

4.3x

Cheap

Cheap against the generic band

P/B Ratio

0.45x

Reasonable

Reasonable against the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹17.7

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

10.7%

Moderate

Moderate capital efficiency

ROCE

19.5%

Strong

Earns comfortably above its likely cost of capital

Debt/Equity

0.66x

Moderate

Moderate leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

-39.1%

Shrinking

Sales are contracting

Profit Growth (YoY)

-81.6%

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

-₹45 Cr

Cash burning

Spending more cash than the operations bring in

More Metrics

Operating Margin

-1.2%

Weak

Thin margins leave little room for error

Net Margin

6.2%

Average

Average bottom-line conversion

Current Ratio

1.43

Comfortable

Healthy short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

0.07

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

43%

Mid-range

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

73.8 / 77.3

Bearish alignment (short < long)

Price vs SMA 200

Above

Long-term uptrend

RSI (14)

47.7

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹431 Cr	₹513 Cr	₹532 Cr	₹500 Cr	+5.1%
EBITDA	₹75 Cr	₹81 Cr	₹95 Cr	₹93 Cr	+7.8%
EBITDA Margin	17.3%	15.9%	17.8%	18.7%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹30 Cr	₹33 Cr	₹38 Cr	₹31 Cr	+1.2%
EPS	₹17.27	₹18.84	₹22.09	₹17.9	+1.2%
ROE	16.5%	15.3%	14.9%	10.7%	—
ROCE	27.9%	26.4%	25.3%	19.5%	—
Total Debt	₹223 Cr	₹209 Cr	₹212 Cr	₹192 Cr	-4.9%
Free Cash Flow	₹25 Cr	₹44 Cr	₹60 Cr	-₹45 Cr	—

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

🟢 EBITDA has grown at 7.8% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA Margin has risen from 17.3% to 18.7% over 3 years (+1.4 pts).

🟡 PAT (Net Profit) has been broadly flat over 3 years (1.2% a year).

🟡 EPS has been broadly flat over 3 years (1.2% a year).

🔴 ROE has fallen from 16.5% to 10.7% over 3 years (-5.9 pts).

🔴 ROCE has fallen from 27.9% to 19.5% over 3 years (-8.4 pts).

🟢 Total Debt has shrunk at 4.9% a year over 3 years.

🔴 Free Cash Flow has turned negative, from ₹25 Cr to -₹45 Cr.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹633 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹341 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹72 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

-₹37 Cr

Capex

-₹8 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

0.0%

Insider Holding

65.6%

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
HINDUSTAN UNILEVER LTD.	42.5x	21.5%
ITC LTD	16.6x	27.4%
NESTLE INDIA LIMITED	59.8x	79.9%
BRITANNIA INDUSTRIES LTD	44.1x	51.0%

Recent News

1 positive3 mixed2 general

Indian Sucrose Ltd Upgraded to Hold by MarketsMOJO on Technical Improvements

MarketsMojo, 16 OctAnalyst view

🟢Potentially positiveAn analyst opinion changing, which moves the price without changing the business.

Indian Sucrose Ltd. Share Price News, Technicals, Valuation

Univest, 20 Aug

Indian sugar companies’ share prices rally up to 9% as global prices surge amid near-term supply tightness

ChiniMandi, 06 OctPrice 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.

Indian Sucrose closes trading window ahead of Q1FY27 results

scanx.trade, 23 JunResults

🟡Mixed / dependsA results event. The figures on this page update once the new statements reach the data feed, which usually lags the announcement.

Indian Sucrose Ltd. Share Price Up 8.98%: Price Analysis

Univest, 18 AugPrice 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.

Sugar prices: India’s sugar squeeze threatens its biggest season for sweets

BBC, 26 Aug

Watch Items

Revenue growth is negative (-39.1%) on the latest reported period — check if this is one-off or a trend.
Cross-check against the company's latest quarterly filing / investor presentation before acting.

DalalBaazaar Thesis

StrongValuation

MiddlingBusiness Quality · Financial Health · Profitability · Risk

WeakGrowth

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. 1 high-severity red flag sits above this conclusion and should be read first.

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