Inter State Oil Carrier Limited

Industrials — Trucking · BSE

₹48.35+₹1.83 (+3.93%)

DalalBaazaar Score

55 / 100

🟡 Moderate

Verdict

NEUTRAL

Risk

High

Driven by moderate debt load, negative free cash flow, micro-cap size, which brings thin liquidity.

In simple words: Reasonable but unspectacular business quality, 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, 6:55 pm

Understanding the Business

Company site ↗

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

What does this company do?

Inter State Oil Carrier Limited operates as a transporter of bulk liquids in India. Its fleet includes single and multi-compartment tankers, SS tankers, and integrated tanker trailers.

IndustryTrucking

SectorIndustrials

Employees22

Annual revenue₹107 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹107 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹2 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹9 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 22 employees supports ₹4.87 Cr of revenue a year, the signature of a capital- or asset-led business.

Revenue / employee₹4.87 Cr

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?Little sign of one

Returns on capital of 14.1% 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 ROE15.2%

What has been driving growth?

Profit has moved mainly because margins changed, not because the business sold much more. Over 3 years revenue moved +100% while net margin moved -325% 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+100%

Margin effect-325%

DalalBaazaar Score

55/ 100

Moderate

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✗ Debt/Equity of 1.36x is on the heavy side
• Current ratio of 1.21 covers short-term liabilities, without much slack
✗ Free cash flow is negative — growth is being funded by borrowing or fresh equity
✗ Interest cover of only 2.3x — little room if profits dip

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

50/ 100

Average

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

Valuation

88/ 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

10.3x

2Y Median

17.5x

28 monthly readings · mean 18.5x · range 12.3x–27.5x

Sector Median

88.8x

median of 3 sector peers

🟢Current valuation is approximately 41% below its 2y median of 17.5x. 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 88% below the peer median of 88.8x.

vs. its own history

Cheap

17.5x median over 28 months · -41%

vs. sector peers

Cheap

88.8x median of 3 peers · -88%

vs. generic bands

Cheap

Below 15x

EV/EBITDA

5.5x

PEG

—

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well2

Return on equity is rising
ROE has improved from -2.5% to 9.1%.
Return on capital is rising
ROCE has improved from 3.4% to 14.1%.

🔴 What Needs Attention0

Nothing stands out as clearly deteriorating on the years of data available.

Red Flags

3 items require attention · 1 high · 2 watch

🔴Profit up while operating cash flow fallsFinancial
Reported profit rose but cash generated by operations declined — worth checking whether earnings are being supported by non-cash items or working capital.
🟡Debt is increasingFinancial
Total debt is up 36% over 3 years.
🟡Free cash flow is negativeFinancial
Free cash flow was -₹4 Cr in the latest year.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Priced below its own history
The stock trades 41% 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 88% below the sector median. Either the market sees a problem the numbers do not show, or the discount closes.

🔴 Bear CaseWhat could go wrong?

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

1Revenue growth stays above 20% a year✓ 26.0% CAGR
Latest reported year was 12.4%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.
2EBITDA margin holds above 7%✓ 9.0%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
3Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x✗ 3.0x
The ratio lenders write covenants against; it survives a small or negative equity base, unlike Debt/Equity.
4Free cash flow remains positive✗ -₹4 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
5Interest cover stays above 3x✗ 2.3x
How much operating profit can fall before interest stops being comfortably covered.

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 · 5 neutral · 1 weak

Market Cap

₹24 Cr

Micro Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

10.3x

Cheap

Cheap against the generic band

P/B Ratio

1.14x

Reasonable

Reasonable against the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹4.71

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

9.1%

Moderate

Moderate capital efficiency

ROCE

14.1%

Moderate

Moderate return on the capital in the business

Debt/Equity

1.36x

Moderate

Moderate leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

12.4%

Healthy

Healthy top-line growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

223.1%

Healthy

Profits growing at a healthy clip

Dividend Yield

None

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

Free Cash Flow

-₹4 Cr

Cash burning

Spending more cash than the operations bring in

More Metrics

Operating Margin

3.5%

Weak

Thin margins leave little room for error

Net Margin

2.1%

Weak

Very little revenue reaches the bottom line

Current Ratio

1.21

Comfortable

Healthy short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

-0.07

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

51%

Mid-range

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

49.5 / 48.5

Bullish alignment (short > long)

Price vs SMA 200

Above

Long-term uptrend

RSI (14)

41.7

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹54 Cr	₹85 Cr	₹88 Cr	₹107 Cr	+26.0%
EBITDA	₹5 Cr	₹7 Cr	₹8 Cr	₹10 Cr	+25.5%
EBITDA Margin	9.2%	8.8%	8.5%	9.0%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	-₹0 Cr	₹1 Cr	₹1 Cr	₹2 Cr	—
EPS	₹-0.85	₹1.73	₹2.29	₹3.85	—
ROE	-2.5%	4.7%	5.9%	9.1%	—
ROCE	3.4%	14.6%	10.7%	14.1%	—
Total Debt	₹21 Cr	₹19 Cr	₹24 Cr	₹29 Cr	+10.8%
Free Cash Flow	-₹5 Cr	₹1 Cr	-₹4 Cr	-₹4 Cr	—

🟢 Revenue has grown at 26.0% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA has grown at 25.5% a year over 3 years.

🟡 EBITDA Margin has held roughly flat at 9.0% over 3 years.

🟢 PAT (Net Profit) has turned positive, from -₹0 Cr to ₹2 Cr.

🟢 EPS has turned positive, from ₹-0.85 to ₹3.85.

🟢 ROE has risen from -2.5% to 9.1% over 3 years (+11.5 pts).

🟢 ROCE has risen from 3.4% to 14.1% over 3 years (+10.7 pts).

🔴 Total Debt has grown at 10.8% a year over 3 years.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹59 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹37 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹0 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

₹2 Cr

Capex

-₹6 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

0.0%

Insider Holding

67.4%

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

Inter State Oil Carrier volume up 31.7% YoY to 27,880 MT in Sep 2026

scanx.trade, 10 Oct

Inter State Oil Carrier Ltd. Peer Comparison – Compare with Others

Value Research, 30 Aug

Inter State Oil Carrier Q1 FY27 Results: Revenue Rs 29 Cr, PAT Rs 0.63 Cr and Key Highlights

Univest, 11 AugResults

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

Inter State Oil Carrier Reports 31.69% YoY Volume Growth in September 2026 Business Update

EquityBulls, 10 Oct

Inter State Oil Carrier board approves MD remuneration revision with commission

scanx.trade, 05 OctCapacity

🟡Mixed / dependsCapacity additions can raise revenue over two to three years, but the capital spend usually pressures free cash flow first. Worth checking whether the capex is funded from operations or from borrowing.

Inter State Oil Carrier Ltd. Key Financial Ratios – Valuation, Profitability & More

Value Research, 29 Aug

Watch Items

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

DalalBaazaar Thesis

StrongGrowth · Valuation

MiddlingBusiness Quality · Profitability

WeakFinancial Health · 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. 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 ↑