KIOCL Limited

Basic Materials — Steel · NSE

₹366.00−₹3.20 (−0.87%)

DalalBaazaar Score

42 / 100

🟡 Moderate

Verdict

CAUTION

Risk

Low

Driven by small-cap size, which brings sharper price swings, a very high earnings multiple, which leaves little margin for disappointment.

In simple words: The business is earning a fairly low return on the money invested in it, with both sales and profits growing well. Valuation is currently the main factor to watch.

Decision support, not a buy or sell call.

As of 18 Oct 2026, 7:00 pm

Understanding the Business

Company site ↗

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

What does this company do?

KIOCL Limited engages in the iron ore mining, beneficiation, and production of pellets in India. The company operates through two segments, Pellet and Pig Iron. It produces and sells iron ore pellets, pig iron, and iron ore fines.

IndustrySteel

SectorBasic Materials

Employees474

Annual revenue₹611 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹611 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹3 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹10 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 474 employees supports ₹1.29 Cr of revenue a year, the signature of a capital- or asset-led business.

Revenue / employee₹1.29 Cr

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are TATA STEEL LIMITED, JSW STEEL LIMITED, JINDAL STEEL LIMITED, STEEL AUTHORITY OF INDIA. 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 1.3% 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 ROE10.8%

What has been driving growth?

Profit has moved mainly because margins changed, not because the business sold much more. Over 3 years revenue moved -60% while net margin moved -143% 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-60%

Margin effect-143%

DalalBaazaar Score

42/ 100

Moderate

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✗ Revenue has contracted at 26.6% a year

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

46/ 100

Average

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

Valuation

24/ 100

Expensive

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

302.5x

Sector Median

18.2x

median of 4 sector peers

⚠️Against its sector it trades 1564% above the peer median of 18.2x.

vs. its own history

Not enough price and earnings history

vs. sector peers

Expensive

18.2x median of 4 peers · +1564%

vs. generic bands

Expensive

Above 35x

EV/EBITDA

353.7x

PEG

—

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well6

Margins are improving
EBITDA margin is up from -5.7% to 10.3% over 3 years.
Debt is being paid down
Total debt is down 64% over 3 years.
Cash flow has turned positive
Free cash flow moved from negative to positive over 3 years.
Return on equity is rising
ROE has improved from -4.9% to 1.0%.
Return on capital is rising
ROCE has improved from -4.9% to 1.3%.
Very low debt
Debt/Equity of 0.11x leaves the balance sheet with plenty of headroom.

🔴 What Needs Attention0

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

Red Flags

2 items require attention · 2 high

🔴Thin interest coverageFinancial
Operating profit covers interest only 1.8x — 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.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Margin expansion has further to run
EBITDA margin has risen from -5.7% to 10.3%. If that holds, profit compounds faster than sales and today's multiple looks cheaper in hindsight than it does now.
Deleveraging frees up earnings
Debt is down 64% over 3 years. Every rupee of interest not paid drops to the bottom line, so profit can grow even if revenue does not.
Self-funding with balance-sheet headroom
Positive free cash flow of ₹54 Cr alongside low debt means growth, buybacks or dividends need no outside money — and a downturn can be absorbed rather than refinanced.

🔴 Bear CaseWhat could go wrong?

The debt load needs earnings to hold up
Debt is 3.0x EBITDA. At that level a downturn in earnings turns a manageable balance sheet into a refinancing problem, and lenders get paid before shareholders.
A premium to the sector to defend
It trades 1564% above the peer median. That premium needs a reason that persists, or it closes.
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
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.
Several serious flags at once
2 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 8%✓ 10.3%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
2Debt / EBITDA falls below 3x✗ 3.0x
Already stretched, so this is a reduction target rather than a level to hold. Around 3x is where lenders typically start attaching conditions.
3Interest cover stays above 3x✗ 1.8x
How much operating profit can fall before interest stops being comfortably covered.
4Free cash flow remains positive✓ ₹54 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
5ROCE stays above 8%✗ 1.3%
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

5 good · 2 neutral · 4 weak

Market Cap

₹22,244 Cr

Small Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

302.5x

Expensive

Expensive — verify against sector peers

P/B Ratio

12.81x

Rich

Steep premium to book — needs high, durable returns to justify

EPS (TTM)

₹1.21

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

1.0%

Weak

Weak capital efficiency

ROCE

1.3%

Weak

Low return on total capital employed

Debt/Equity

0.11x

Low

Conservative leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

73.8%

Healthy

Healthy top-line growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

108.1%

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

₹54 Cr

Cash generative

Generates cash even after funding its capex

More Metrics

Operating Margin

-22.0%

Weak

Thin margins leave little room for error

Net Margin

5.7%

Average

Average bottom-line conversion

Current Ratio

3.38

Comfortable

Healthy short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

0.60

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

44%

Mid-range

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

348.1 / 366.3

Bearish alignment (short < long)

Price vs SMA 200

Below

Long-term downtrend

RSI (14)

65.1

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹1,543 Cr	₹1,854 Cr	₹590 Cr	₹611 Cr	-26.6%
EBITDA	-₹89 Cr	-₹22 Cr	-₹151 Cr	₹63 Cr	—
EBITDA Margin	-5.7%	-1.2%	-25.6%	10.3%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	-₹98 Cr	-₹83 Cr	-₹205 Cr	₹17 Cr	—
EPS	₹-1.61	₹-1.37	₹-3.37	₹0.27	—
ROE	-4.9%	-4.3%	-12.0%	1.0%	—
ROCE	-4.9%	-2.3%	-9.6%	1.3%	—
Total Debt	₹537 Cr	₹180 Cr	₹193 Cr	₹192 Cr	-29.1%
Free Cash Flow	-₹733 Cr	-₹9 Cr	₹316 Cr	₹54 Cr	—

🔴 Revenue has shrunk at 26.6% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA has turned positive, from -₹89 Cr to ₹63 Cr.

🟢 EBITDA Margin has risen from -5.7% to 10.3% over 3 years (+16.1 pts).

🟢 PAT (Net Profit) has turned positive, from -₹98 Cr to ₹17 Cr.

🟢 EPS has turned positive, from ₹-1.61 to ₹0.27.

🟢 ROE has risen from -4.9% to 1.0% over 3 years (+5.8 pts).

🟢 ROCE has risen from -4.9% to 1.3% over 3 years (+6.2 pts).

🟢 Total Debt has shrunk at 29.1% a year over 3 years.

🟢 Free Cash Flow has turned positive, from -₹733 Cr to ₹54 Cr.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹2,343 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹607 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹75 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

₹79 Cr

Capex

-₹25 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

0.0%

Insider Holding

99.0%

Corporate Actions

Ex-Dividend Date

08 Sept 2022

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
TATA STEEL LIMITED	19.8x	10.8%
JSW STEEL LIMITED	12.0x	24.7%
JINDAL STEEL LIMITED	39.1x	5.3%
STEEL AUTHORITY OF INDIA	16.5x	7.1%

Recent News

1 positive1 mixed1 negative3 general

KIOCL Share Price News Today: Rs 350 and Mining Context

Univest, 23 Sept

KIOCL Limited (NSE:KIOCL) Shares May Have Slumped 32% But Getting In Cheap Is Still Unlikely

Simply Wall Street, 06 NovPrice move

🟡Mixed / dependsA price move rather than a change in the business. If the figures on this page have not moved, the fall is either an opportunity or news they have yet to catch up with.

KIOCL revenue rises 67% in Q1FY27, but net loss widens to ₹155 crore

scanx.trade, 13 AugResults

🟢Potentially positiveReported improvement. Check whether it came from volume, price or a one-off item before treating it as a trend.

KIOCL Standalone March 2026 Net Sales at Rs 220.33 crore, down 10.6% Y-o-Y

Moneycontrol.com, 28 May

KIOCL Ltd Reports Very Positive Quarterly Financial Performance Amid Revenue Decline

MarketsMojo, 29 MayResults

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

KIOCL vs Nifty 50: Share Price Performance Compared

Univest, 01 Oct

Watch Items

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

DalalBaazaar Thesis

StrongFinancial Health

MiddlingProfitability · Risk

WeakBusiness Quality · Growth · Valuation

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

3 of 5 tripwires tripped — Debt / EBITDA falls below 3x; Interest cover stays above 3x; ROCE stays above 8% · see Key things to watch ↑