JK Lakshmi Cement Limited

Basic Materials — Building Materials · NSE

₹480.00+₹6.80 (+1.44%)

DalalBaazaar Score

57 / 100

🟡 Moderate

Verdict

NEUTRAL

Risk

Low

Driven by small-cap size, which brings sharper price swings, falling profits.

In simple words: Reasonable but unspectacular business quality, though profits are falling even as sales grow. The direction of profits is the main factor to watch.

Decision support, not a buy or sell call.

As of 18 Oct 2026, 6:10 pm

Mixed / neutral. No major red flags jump out, but nothing here screams "obviously cheap" either. This is a name that needs a peer comparison and a view on near-term earnings triggers before sizing a position.

Understanding the Business

Company site ↗

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

What does this company do?

JK Lakshmi Cement Limited manufactures and supplies cement in India.

IndustryBuilding Materials

SectorBasic Materials

Employees1,783

Annual revenue₹6,763 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹6,763 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹6 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹16 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 1,783 employees supports ₹3.79 Cr of revenue a year, the signature of a capital- or asset-led business.

EBITDA margin15.6%

Net margin6.1%

Revenue / employee₹3.79 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.

ULTRATECH CEMENT LIMITEDP/E 37.6x · ROE 11.1%

GRASIM INDUSTRIES LTDP/E 34.8x · ROE 5.5%

AMBUJA CEMENTS LTDP/E 20.4x · ROE 7.4%

SHREE CEMENT LIMITEDP/E 49.7x · ROE 7.0%

What is its competitive advantage?Little sign of one

Returns on capital of 11.4% 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.

ROCE11.4%

ROE10.6%

Peer median ROE7.4%

What is the outlook?

14 analysts covering the stock expect revenue to grow about 12.2% and earnings to fall about 8.3% in the year to 2028. These are estimates by people who follow the company, not a forecast for the wider industry.

Est. revenue growth+12.2%

Est. earnings growth-8.3%

Analysts14

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 +10% 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+10%

DalalBaazaar Score

57/ 100

Moderate

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✗ Revenue CAGR of only 1.6% — barely ahead of inflation
✗ Profit CAGR of only 4.7%
✗ Profit fell 28.1% in the latest year

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

53/ 100

Average

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

Valuation

67/ 100

Fair

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

16.1x

3Y Median

25.3x

40 monthly readings · mean 25.3x · range 14.4x–41.3x

Sector Median

36.2x

median of 4 sector peers

🟢Current valuation is approximately 36% below its 3y median of 25.3x. 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 55% below the peer median of 36.2x.

vs. its own history

Cheap

25.3x median over 40 months · -36%

vs. sector peers

Cheap

36.2x median of 4 peers · -55%

vs. generic bands

Fair

15x–35x

P/E (Trailing)

16.1x

P/B

1.53x

EV/EBITDA

8.0x

PEG

3.40

Dividend Yield

1.35%

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well4

Margins are improving
EBITDA margin is up from 13.6% to 15.6% over 3 years.
Cash flow has turned positive
Free cash flow moved from negative to positive over 3 years.
Valuation below its historical average
At 16.1x the stock trades 36% below its own median of 25.3x.
Consistently profitable
Profitable in every one of the last 4 reported years.

🔴 What Needs Attention3

Debt is rising
Total debt is up 38% over 3 years — worth checking what it funded.
Return on capital is falling
ROCE has declined from 13.6% to 11.4% — often a sign of competition or overexpansion.
Receivables growing faster than sales
Receivables are up 69% against revenue growth of 5% — customers are taking longer to pay.

Red Flags

2 items require attention · 1 high · 1 watch

🔴Receivables growing faster than salesFinancial
Receivables up 69% against revenue up 5% — sales are being booked faster than they are collected.
🟡Debt is increasingFinancial
Total debt is up 38% over 3 years.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Margin expansion has further to run
EBITDA margin has risen from 13.6% to 15.6%. If that holds, profit compounds faster than sales and today's multiple looks cheaper in hindsight than it does now.
Priced below its own history
The stock trades 36% 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 55% 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 69% against revenue up 5%. 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 1.6% 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.
Size brings its own risk
Small 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 14%✓ 15.6%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
2Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x✗ 2.5x
The ratio lenders write covenants against; it survives a small or negative equity base, unlike Debt/Equity.
3Interest cover stays above 3x✓ 3.7x
How much operating profit can fall before interest stops being comfortably covered.
4Revenue growth stays above 4% a year✗ 1.6% CAGR
Latest reported year was 9.4%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.
5Free cash flow remains positive✓ ₹374 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.

Investment Checklist

7 / 12 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
✓ Analyst consensus isn't majority-sell
✗ Short-term technical trend isn't bearish

Price history

Quick Metrics

2 good · 8 neutral · 1 weak

Market Cap

₹5,959 Cr

Small Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

16.1x

Fair

Fairly valued against the generic band

P/B Ratio

1.53x

Fair

Moderate premium to the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹29.78

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

10.6%

Moderate

Moderate capital efficiency

ROCE

11.4%

Moderate

Moderate return on the capital in the business

Debt/Equity

0.67x

Moderate

Moderate leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

9.4%

Modest

Modest growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

-28.1%

Falling

Profits are shrinking

Dividend Yield

1.35%

Modest

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

Free Cash Flow

₹374 Cr

Cash generative

Generates cash even after funding its capex

More Metrics

CMP

₹480

P/E (Forward)

9.5x

Improving

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

Operating Margin

9.2%

Average

Average margins

Net Margin

5.3%

Average

Average bottom-line conversion

Current Ratio

1.29

Comfortable

Healthy short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

0.45

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

Near low

Near its 52-week low

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

488.0 / 516.2

Bearish alignment (short < long)

Price vs SMA 200

Below

Long-term downtrend

RSI (14)

33.3

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹6,451 Cr	₹6,788 Cr	₹6,156 Cr	₹6,763 Cr	+1.6%
EBITDA	₹878 Cr	₹1,109 Cr	₹897 Cr	₹1,053 Cr	+6.3%
EBITDA Margin	13.6%	16.3%	14.6%	15.6%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹359 Cr	₹488 Cr	₹277 Cr	₹412 Cr	+4.7%
EPS	₹30.48	₹39.78	₹22.33	₹33.19	+2.9%
ROE	12.8%	14.9%	7.8%	10.6%	—
ROCE	13.6%	15.9%	8.9%	11.4%	—
Total Debt	₹1,880 Cr	₹2,084 Cr	₹2,614 Cr	₹2,586 Cr	+11.2%
Free Cash Flow	-₹103 Cr	-₹110 Cr	₹123 Cr	₹374 Cr	—

🟡 Revenue has been broadly flat over 3 years (1.6% a year).

🟢 EBITDA has grown at 6.3% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA Margin has risen from 13.6% to 15.6% over 3 years (+2.0 pts).

🟢 PAT (Net Profit) has grown at 4.7% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EPS has grown at 2.9% a year over 3 years.

🔴 ROE has fallen from 12.8% to 10.6% over 3 years (-2.2 pts).

🔴 ROCE has fallen from 13.6% to 11.4% over 3 years (-2.2 pts).

🔴 Total Debt has grown at 11.2% a year over 3 years.

🟢 Free Cash Flow has turned positive, from -₹103 Cr to ₹374 Cr.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹8,548 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹4,665 Cr

Total Debt

₹2,586 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹73 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

₹1,082 Cr

Capex

-₹709 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

29.6%

Insider Holding

47.2%

Corporate Actions

Dividend Rate

₹6.5

Ex-Dividend Date

17 Jul 2026

Analyst Consensus

Recommendations

12 Buy · 4 Hold · 2 Sell

Target Price (Mean)

₹676.89

+41.0% vs CMP

Target Range

₹460 – ₹940

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 mixed1 negative4 general

What JK Lakshmi Cement Holders Got Wrong Before The Slide

Yahoo Finance, 17 Oct

JK Lakshmi Cement Declared Preferred Bidder for New Umrangso Limestone Block in Assam

scanx.trade, 18 Oct

JK Lakshmi Cement (JKLAKSHMI) 52 Week Low Streak Extends to 12 Sessions

Univest, 14 Oct

Results: JK Lakshmi Cement Limited Exceeded Expectations And The Consensus Has Updated Its Estimates

Simply Wall Street, 08 AugResults

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

JK Lakshmi Cement Q1 profit falls 28% amid margin pressure; flags ₹130 crore Assam mining dispute

CNBC TV18, 05 AugResults

🔴Potentially negativeReported deterioration, which feeds the growth and margin inputs on this page directly.

JK Lakshmi Cement Limited Actuals & Estimates (NSE:JKLAKSHMI)

TradingView, 26 Jun

Watch Items

Trading very close to its 52-week low — worth checking whether this reflects a temporary setback or a structural problem.
Cross-check against the company's latest quarterly filing / investor presentation before acting.

DalalBaazaar Thesis

🟡Business QualityAdequate10.5/20

🟢Financial HealthStrong13.8/20

🔴GrowthWeak7.4/20

🟡ProfitabilityModerate8.3/15

🟢ValuationAttractive10.7/15

🟡RiskModerate6/10

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.

This thesis breaks if

✓EBITDA margin holds above 14%15.6%
✗Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x2.5x
✓Interest cover stays above 3x3.7x
✗Revenue growth stays above 4% a year1.6% CAGR
✓Free cash flow remains positive₹374 Cr