Jay Shree Tea & Industries Limited

Consumer Defensive — Farm Products · NSE

₹86.40+₹2.16 (+2.56%)

DalalBaazaar Score

36 / 100

🔴 Weak

Verdict

CAUTION

Risk

Very High

Driven by moderate debt load, short-term liabilities exceed short-term assets, negative free cash flow.

In simple words: The company is currently losing money, though profits are falling even as sales grow. Cash generation is currently 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 Jay Shree Tea & Industries Limited — what it does, how it earns, and who it competes with, before any of the numbers below.

What does this company do?

Jay Shree Tea & Industries Limited cultivates, produces, and sells tea, sugar, and fertilizers in India and internationally. The company operates through the Tea, Fertilizer, and Sugar segments.

IndustryFarm Products

SectorConsumer Defensive

Employees18,576

Annual revenue₹854 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹854 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹-3 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹3 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 18,576 employees supports ₹4.6 lakh of revenue a year, the signature of a people-led business.

EBITDA margin2.9%

Net margin-2.9%

Revenue / employee₹4.6 lakh

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.

HINDUSTAN UNILEVER LTD.P/E 42.5x · ROE 21.5%

ITC LTDP/E 16.6x · ROE 27.4%

NESTLE INDIA LIMITEDP/E 59.8x · ROE 79.9%

BRITANNIA INDUSTRIES LTDP/E 44.1x · ROE 51.0%

What is its competitive advantage?Little sign of one

Returns on capital of 1.7% 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.

ROCE1.7%

ROE-6.3%

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 +5% while net margin moved -49% 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+5%

Margin effect-49%

DalalBaazaar Score

36/ 100

Weak

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✗ Debt/Equity of 1.06x is on the heavy side
✗ Current ratio of 0.76 — short-term liabilities exceed short-term assets
✗ Free cash flow is negative — growth is being funded by borrowing or fresh equity
✗ Interest cover of only 0.2x — little room if profits dip

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

34/ 100

Weak

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

Valuation

30/ 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.

vs. its own history

Not enough price and earnings history

vs. sector peers

Not enough peers with a usable P/E

vs. generic bands

N/A

No P/E — the company is lossmaking

P/E (Trailing)

Not meaningful

P/B

0.63x

EV/EBITDA

26.6x

PEG

—

Dividend Yield

0.58%

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well2

Return on equity is rising
ROE has improved from -21.3% to -6.3%.
Return on capital is rising
ROCE has improved from -3.7% to 1.7%.

🔴 What Needs Attention3

Debt is rising
Total debt is up 39% over 3 years — worth checking what it funded.
Free cash flow is negative
The business is not currently covering its capital spending from operations.
Short-term liquidity is tight
Current ratio of 0.76 — near-term obligations exceed near-term assets.

Red Flags

6 items require attention · 3 high · 3 watch

🔴Thin interest coverageFinancial
Operating profit covers interest only 0.2x — little room if earnings dip.
🔴Free cash flow negative for 4 yearsFinancial
The business has not covered its capital spending from operations for several years running, which has to be funded externally.
🔴The company is lossmakingFinancial
Net profit of -₹25 Cr in the latest reported year.
🟡Debt is increasingFinancial
Total debt is up 39% over 3 years.
🟡Interest coverage is deterioratingFinancial
Cover has fallen from 3.1x to 0.2x.
🟡Short-term liquidity is tightFinancial
Current ratio of 0.76 — near-term obligations exceed near-term assets.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

No clear supporting case emerges from the available numbers.

🔴 Bear CaseWhat could go wrong?

The debt load needs earnings to hold up
Debt is 16.7x EBITDA. At that level a downturn in earnings turns a manageable balance sheet into a refinancing problem, and lenders get paid before shareholders.
Growth barely outpaces inflation
Revenue compounding at 1.7% 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.
Several serious flags at once
3 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 1%✓ 2.9%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
2Debt / EBITDA falls below 3x✗ 16.7x
Already stretched, so this is a reduction target rather than a level to hold. Around 3x is where lenders typically start attaching conditions.
3Free cash flow remains positive✗ -₹73 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
4Interest cover stays above 3x✗ 0.2x
How much operating profit can fall before interest stops being comfortably covered.
5Revenue growth stays above 4% a year✗ 1.7% CAGR
Latest reported year was 8.6%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.

Investment Checklist

3 / 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

1 good · 4 neutral · 6 weak

Market Cap

₹250 Cr

Micro Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

Not meaningful

Loss-making

Earnings are negative, so a P/E multiple can't be read here

P/B Ratio

0.63x

Reasonable

Reasonable against the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹-7.63

Loss-making

Negative earnings per share — the business is losing money

ROE

-6.3%

Weak

Weak capital efficiency

ROCE

1.7%

Weak

Low return on total capital employed

Debt/Equity

1.06x

Moderate

Moderate leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

8.6%

Modest

Modest growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

-119.8%

Falling

Profits are shrinking

Dividend Yield

0.58%

Modest

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

Free Cash Flow

-₹73 Cr

Cash burning

Spending more cash than the operations bring in

More Metrics

CMP

₹86.4

Operating Margin

-0.1%

Weak

Thin margins leave little room for error

Net Margin

-2.3%

Weak

Very little revenue reaches the bottom line

Current Ratio

0.76

Tight

Tight short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

0.40

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

38%

Mid-range

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

85.9 / 91.3

Bearish alignment (short < long)

Price vs SMA 200

Below

Long-term downtrend

RSI (14)

43.1

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹813 Cr	₹705 Cr	₹810 Cr	₹854 Cr	+1.7%
EBITDA	₹30 Cr	-₹22 Cr	₹46 Cr	₹25 Cr	-5.2%
EBITDA Margin	3.6%	-3.1%	5.6%	2.9%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	-₹47 Cr	₹13 Cr	₹127 Cr	-₹25 Cr	—
EPS	₹-20.8	₹4.5	₹43.81	₹-8.68	—
ROE	-21.3%	4.5%	30.2%	-6.3%	—
ROCE	-3.7%	9.9%	22.1%	1.7%	—
Total Debt	₹301 Cr	₹323 Cr	₹325 Cr	₹419 Cr	+11.6%
Free Cash Flow	-₹14 Cr	-₹74 Cr	-₹87 Cr	-₹73 Cr	—

🟡 Revenue has been broadly flat over 3 years (1.7% a year).

🔴 EBITDA has shrunk at 5.2% a year over 3 years.

🟡 EBITDA Margin has held roughly flat at 2.9% over 3 years.

🟢 ROE has risen from -21.3% to -6.3% over 3 years (+15.0 pts).

🟢 ROCE has risen from -3.7% to 1.7% over 3 years (+5.4 pts).

🔴 Total Debt has grown at 11.6% a year over 3 years.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹956 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹560 Cr

Total Debt

₹419 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹2 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

-₹46 Cr

Capex

-₹27 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

4.8%

Insider Holding

60.4%

Corporate Actions

Dividend Rate

₹0.5

Ex-Dividend Date

05 Aug 2025

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 mixed5 general

Coffee Day vs Foods and Inns vs Jay Shree Tea: Which Stock Should You Track

Univest, 13 Oct

Jay Shree Tea promoter Mohta acquires 1.26M shares, stake rises to 29%

scanx.trade, 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.

Jay Shree Tea & Industries Ltd. Share Price Live Today

CNBC TV18, 03 Jan

Jayshree Tea vs Nifty 50: Share Price Performance Compared

Univest, 30 Sept

Jay Shree Tea schedules 80th AGM on August 13, 2026

scanx.trade, 13 Aug

Tea Stocks In Focus: Tata Consumer, CCL Products, Mcleod Russel Among Others Trade Mix Amid Fall In Auction Prices

NDTV Profit, 31 Aug

Watch Items

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

DalalBaazaar Thesis

🔴Business QualityWeak7.5/20

🔴Financial HealthStretched5.2/20

🔴GrowthWeak7.6/20

🔴ProfitabilityWeak5/15

🟡ValuationFair7.1/15

🔴RiskHigh4/10

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

This thesis breaks if

✓EBITDA margin holds above 1%2.9%
✗Debt / EBITDA falls below 3x16.7x
✗Free cash flow remains positive-₹73 Cr
✗Interest cover stays above 3x0.2x
✗Revenue growth stays above 4% a year1.7% CAGR