Kesar Enterprises Limited

Consumer Defensive — Confectioners · BSE

₹11.56−₹0.23 (−1.95%)

DalalBaazaar Score

32 / 100

🔴 Weak

Verdict

CAUTION

Risk

Very High

Driven by moderate debt load, short-term liabilities exceed short-term assets, the company is currently loss-making.

In simple words: The company is currently losing money, with both sales and profits growing well. Short-term liquidity is the main factor to watch.

Decision support, not a buy or sell call.

As of 18 Oct 2026, 7:47 pm

Understanding the Business

Company site ↗

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

What does this company do?

Kesar Enterprises Limited engages in the production and sale of sugar, spirits, and ethanol in India. It operates through Sugar, Power, and Spirits segments. The company manufactures and sells rectified spirit, neutral alcohol, alcoholic beverages, and byproducts of sugar.

IndustryConfectioners

SectorConsumer Defensive

Employees211

Annual revenue₹300 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹300 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹-16 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹-7 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 211 employees supports ₹1.42 Cr of revenue a year, the signature of a capital- or asset-led business.

Revenue / employee₹1.42 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?Little sign of one

Returns on capital of -28.5% 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 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 -44% while net margin moved +96% 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-44%

Margin effect+96%

DalalBaazaar Score

32/ 100

Weak

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✗ Revenue has contracted at 17.5% a year

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

30/ 100

Weak

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

Valuation

29/ 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

EV/EBITDA

—

PEG

—

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well2

Debt is being paid down
Total debt is down 51% over 3 years.
Return on equity is rising
ROE has improved from -73.8% to -67.2%.

🔴 What Needs Attention1

Return on capital is falling
ROCE has declined from -23.7% to -28.5% — often a sign of competition or overexpansion.

Red Flags

6 items require attention · 4 high · 2 watch

🔴Thin interest coverageFinancial
Operating profit covers interest only -2.8x — little room if earnings dip.
🔴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.
🔴The company is lossmakingFinancial
Net profit of -₹48 Cr in the latest reported year.
🔴Significant margin compressionFinancial
EBITDA margin has fallen 7.1 points, from 0.3% to -6.8%.
🟡Free cash flow is negativeFinancial
Free cash flow was -₹25 Cr in the latest year.
🟡Short-term liquidity is tightFinancial
Current ratio of 0.07 — near-term obligations exceed near-term assets.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Deleveraging frees up earnings
Debt is down 51% over 3 years. Every rupee of interest not paid drops to the bottom line, so profit can grow even if revenue does not.

🔴 Bear CaseWhat could go wrong?

Margins are being competed away
EBITDA margin has fallen from 0.3% to -6.8%. If the trend continues, profit falls even on flat sales — and margin decline rarely reverses quickly.
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
4 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 -9%✓ -6.8%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
2Free cash flow remains positive✗ -₹25 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
3Interest cover stays above 3x✗ -2.8x
How much operating profit can fall before interest stops being comfortably covered.
4ROCE stays above 8%✗ -28.5%
Falling returns on capital are usually competition arriving, and show up here before they reach the margin.

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

3 good · 4 neutral · 4 weak

Market Cap

₹117 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

1.62x

Fair

Moderate premium to the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹-5.12

Loss-making

Negative earnings per share — the business is losing money

ROE

-50.8%

Weak

Weak capital efficiency

ROCE

-28.5%

Weak

Low return on total capital employed

Debt/Equity

1.29x

Moderate

Moderate leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

163.2%

Healthy

Healthy top-line growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

33.2%

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

₹2 Cr

Cash generative

Generates cash even after funding its capex

More Metrics

ROA

-5.1%

Weak

Assets generate little profit

Operating Margin

-4.4%

Weak

Thin margins leave little room for error

Net Margin

-15.9%

Weak

Very little revenue reaches the bottom line

Current Ratio

0.07

Tight

Tight short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

0.11

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

80%

Mid-range

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

12.6 / 10.2

Bullish alignment (short > long)

Price vs SMA 200

Above

Long-term uptrend

RSI (14)

31.8

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹535 Cr	₹520 Cr	₹329 Cr	₹300 Cr	-17.5%
EBITDA	₹2 Cr	₹116 Cr	-₹39 Cr	-₹20 Cr	—
EBITDA Margin	0.3%	22.2%	-11.9%	-6.8%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	-₹44 Cr	₹84 Cr	-₹72 Cr	-₹48 Cr	—
EPS	₹-4.37	₹8.29	₹-7.2	₹-4.8	—
ROE	-73.8%	43.6%	-61.1%	-67.2%	—
ROCE	-23.7%	44.7%	-39.8%	-28.5%	—
Total Debt	₹191 Cr	₹75 Cr	₹9 Cr	₹93 Cr	-21.3%
Free Cash Flow	₹9 Cr	₹56 Cr	-₹5 Cr	-₹25 Cr	—

🔴 Revenue has shrunk at 17.5% a year over 3 years.

🔴 EBITDA has turned negative, from ₹2 Cr to -₹20 Cr.

🔴 EBITDA Margin has fallen from 0.3% to -6.8% over 3 years (-7.1 pts).

🟢 ROE has risen from -73.8% to -67.2% over 3 years (+6.5 pts).

🔴 ROCE has fallen from -23.7% to -28.5% over 3 years (-4.8 pts).

🟢 Total Debt has shrunk at 21.3% a year over 3 years.

🔴 Free Cash Flow has turned negative, from ₹9 Cr to -₹25 Cr.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹453 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹381 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹4 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

-₹25 Cr

Capex

-₹0 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

1.5%

Insider Holding

81.1%

Corporate Actions

Ex-Dividend Date

08 Nov 2011

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 positive5 general

Kesar Enterprises Upper Circuit Today: Price, Data and Peers

Univest, 13 Oct

Kesar Enterprises Ltd. Shareholding Pattern – Promoters, FIIs & DIIs

Value Research, 31 Aug

Kesar Enterprises faces ₹6970.54 lakh IBC petition

scanx.trade, 21 May

Kesar Enterprises Ltd. Lower Circuit Streak: Day 4 Price and Data

Univest, 29 Sept

Kesar India bags Rs 160-cr EPC contract from Zee Enterprises

Business Standard, 22 MayOrder win

🟢Potentially positiveAn order or contract win, which adds to future revenue. How much depends on its size against annual sales and on when it is executed.

Stocks to Watch September 9: Kesar’s ₹431 Crore Sale, Biocon Block Deal and ₹190 Crore Enviro Infra Order

NiftyTrader, 09 Sept

Watch Items

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

DalalBaazaar Thesis

MiddlingFinancial Health

WeakBusiness Quality · Growth · Profitability · Valuation · Risk

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

3 of 4 tripwires tripped — Free cash flow remains positive; Interest cover stays above 3x; ROCE stays above 8% · see Key things to watch ↑