Kilburn Engineering Limited

Industrials — Specialty Industrial Machinery · NSE

₹490.00+₹4.40 (+0.91%)

DalalBaazaar Score

63 / 100

🟢 Good

Verdict

NEUTRAL

Risk

Moderate

Driven by negative free cash flow, micro-cap size, which brings thin liquidity, falling profits.

In simple words: Strong business and financial position, but sales are shrinking. Cash generation is currently the main factor to watch.

Decision support, not a buy or sell call.

As of 18 Oct 2026, 6:07 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 Kilburn Engineering Limited — what it does, how it earns, and who it competes with, before any of the numbers below.

What does this company do?

Kilburn Engineering Limited designs, manufactures, supplies, installs, and commissions customized process equipment for various applications in India and internationally.

IndustrySpecialty Industrial Machinery

SectorIndustrials

Employees327

Annual revenue₹619 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹619 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹16 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹26 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 327 employees supports ₹1.89 Cr of revenue a year, the signature of a capital- or asset-led business.

EBITDA margin25.9%

Net margin15.5%

Revenue / employee₹1.89 Cr

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are SIEMENS LTD, ABB INDIA LIMITED, LARSEN & TOUBRO LTD., HAVELLS INDIA LIMITED. These are the companies its valuation and returns are measured against elsewhere in this report.

SIEMENS LTDP/E 88.8x · ROE 10.5%

ABB INDIA LIMITEDP/E 92.6x · ROE 19.1%

LARSEN & TOUBRO LTD.P/E 30.1x · ROE 15.2%

HAVELLS INDIA LIMITEDP/E 43.5x · ROE 17.1%

What is its competitive advantage?The numbers suggest a real one

ROCE has stayed above 15% in every year available and stands at 20.9%. Returns that high normally get competed away; when they persist, something is protecting them, and its ROE of 14.7% against a peer median of 17.1% is consistent with that. What that something is — brand, scale, switching costs, regulation — the accounts cannot tell you.

ROCE20.9%

ROE14.7%

Peer median ROE17.1%

What is the outlook?

1 analysts covering the stock expect revenue to grow about 15.7% and earnings to grow about 26.6% in the year to 2028. These are estimates by people who follow the company, not a forecast for the wider industry.

Est. revenue growth+15.7%

Est. earnings growth+26.6%

Analysts1

What has been driving growth?

Growth has come mainly from selling more, rather than from keeping more of each sale. Over 3 years revenue moved +184% while net margin moved +13% 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+184%

Margin effect+13%

DalalBaazaar Score

63/ 100

Good

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✓ Beta of 0.19 — historically steadier than the index
✗ Micro Cap: thinner liquidity and sharper drawdowns are normal
✗ Negative free cash flow means dependence on external funding

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

69/ 100

Good

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

Valuation

69/ 100

Cheap

What you are being asked to pay, ignoring how good the business is.

A good business currently available at an undemanding price — the combination this framework is built to look for.

Historical Valuation

Current P/E

28.2x

Sector Median

66.2x

median of 4 sector peers

🟢Against its sector it trades 57% below the peer median of 66.2x.

vs. its own history

Not enough price and earnings history

vs. sector peers

Cheap

66.2x median of 4 peers · -57%

vs. generic bands

Fair

15x–35x

P/E (Trailing)

28.2x

P/B

3.90x

EV/EBITDA

16.5x

PEG

0.60

Dividend Yield

0.61%

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well4

Margins are improving
EBITDA margin is up from 23.3% to 25.9% over 3 years.
High return on capital employed
ROCE of 20.9% is the mark of a business that converts capital into profit efficiently.
Very low debt
Debt/Equity of 0.14x leaves the balance sheet with plenty of headroom.
Consistently profitable
Profitable in every one of the last 4 reported years.

🔴 What Needs Attention5

Debt is rising
Total debt is up 40% over 3 years — worth checking what it funded.
Free cash flow is negative
The business is not currently covering its capital spending from operations.
Return on equity is falling
ROE has dropped from 28.6% to 14.7% — each rupee of shareholder capital earns less than it did.
Return on capital is falling
ROCE has declined from 28.4% to 20.9% — often a sign of competition or overexpansion.
Receivables growing faster than sales
Receivables are up 357% against revenue growth of 184% — customers are taking longer to pay.

Red Flags

5 items require attention · 2 high · 3 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.
🔴Receivables growing faster than salesFinancial
Receivables up 357% against revenue up 184% — sales are being booked faster than they are collected.
🟡Debt is increasingFinancial
Total debt is up 40% over 3 years.
🟡Free cash flow is negativeFinancial
Free cash flow was -₹34 Cr in the latest year.
🟡Shareholders have been dilutedOwnership
Shares outstanding are up 48% over 3 years — each existing share owns a smaller slice of the company.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Capital compounds at a high rate
ROCE of 20.9% means each rupee reinvested earns well above what capital costs. If the company can keep deploying at this rate, growth creates value rather than just consuming cash.
Margin expansion has further to run
EBITDA margin has risen from 23.3% to 25.9%. If that holds, profit compounds faster than sales and today's multiple looks cheaper in hindsight than it does now.
Cheaper than its peers
It trades 57% 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 357% against revenue up 184%. If customers keep taking longer to pay, reported profit will not turn into cash — and write-offs follow if some never do.
Returns on shareholder capital are falling
ROE has dropped from 28.6% to 14.7%. Each rupee of equity earns less than it did, so profit growth increasingly depends on raising more capital rather than on the existing base working harder.
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
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

1Revenue growth stays above 31% a year✓ 41.6% CAGR
Latest reported year was -9.5%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.
2EBITDA margin holds above 24%✓ 25.9%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
3Free cash flow remains positive✗ -₹34 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
4Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x✓ 0.6x
The ratio lenders write covenants against; it survives a small or negative equity base, unlike Debt/Equity.
5ROCE stays above 18%✓ 20.9%
Falling returns on capital are usually competition arriving, and show up here before they reach the margin.

Investment Checklist

7 / 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
✓ Analyst consensus isn't majority-sell

Price history

Quick Metrics

3 good · 5 neutral · 3 weak

Market Cap

₹2,595 Cr

Micro Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

28.2x

Fair

Fairly valued against the generic band

P/B Ratio

3.90x

Fair

Moderate premium to the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹17.38

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

14.7%

Moderate

Moderate capital efficiency

ROCE

20.9%

Strong

Earns comfortably above its likely cost of capital

Debt/Equity

0.14x

Low

Conservative leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

-9.5%

Shrinking

Sales are contracting

Profit Growth (YoY)

-46.2%

Falling

Profits are shrinking

Dividend Yield

0.61%

Modest

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

Free Cash Flow

-₹34 Cr

Cash burning

Spending more cash than the operations bring in

More Metrics

CMP

₹490

P/E (Forward)

27.1x

Improving

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

Operating Margin

15.1%

Good

Healthy core-business profitability

Net Margin

14.3%

Good

Strong bottom-line conversion

Current Ratio

2.98

Comfortable

Healthy short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

0.19

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

75%

Mid-range

Technical Snapshot

RSI (14)

32.5

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹218 Cr	₹329 Cr	₹422 Cr	₹619 Cr	+41.6%
EBITDA	₹51 Cr	₹79 Cr	₹99 Cr	₹160 Cr	+46.7%
EBITDA Margin	23.3%	23.9%	23.6%	25.9%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹30 Cr	₹51 Cr	₹62 Cr	₹96 Cr	+47.2%
EPS	₹8.66	₹13.33	₹13.94	₹19.02	+30.0%
ROE	28.6%	19.9%	13.2%	14.7%	—
ROCE	28.4%	23.9%	17.3%	20.9%	—
Total Debt	₹64 Cr	₹85 Cr	₹88 Cr	₹90 Cr	+11.9%
Free Cash Flow	₹15 Cr	₹10 Cr	-₹44 Cr	-₹34 Cr	—

🟢 Revenue has grown at 41.6% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA has grown at 46.7% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA Margin has risen from 23.3% to 25.9% over 3 years (+2.6 pts).

🟢 PAT (Net Profit) has grown at 47.2% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EPS has grown at 30.0% a year over 3 years.

🔴 ROE has fallen from 28.6% to 14.7% over 3 years (-13.9 pts).

🔴 ROCE has fallen from 28.4% to 20.9% over 3 years (-7.5 pts).

🔴 Total Debt has grown at 11.9% a year over 3 years.

🔴 Free Cash Flow has turned negative, from ₹15 Cr to -₹34 Cr.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹894 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹240 Cr

Total Debt

₹90 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹32 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

-₹18 Cr

Capex

-₹16 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

6.0%

Insider Holding

63.1%

Corporate Actions

Dividend Rate

₹3

Ex-Dividend Date

22 Sept 2026

Analyst Consensus

Recommendations

0 Buy · 1 Hold · 0 Sell

Target Price (Mean)

₹400

-18.4% vs CMP

Target Range

₹400 – ₹400

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
SIEMENS LTD	88.8x	10.5%
ABB INDIA LIMITED	92.6x	19.1%
LARSEN & TOUBRO LTD.	30.1x	15.2%
HAVELLS INDIA LIMITED	43.5x	17.1%

Recent News

1 positive3 mixed2 general

We Think That There Are Some Issues For Kilburn Engineering (NSE:KLBRENG-B) Beyond Its Promising Earnings

Simply Wall Street, 03 JunResults

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

Kilburn Engineering Ltd. Shareholding Pattern – Promoters, FIIs & DIIs

Value Research, 30 Aug

Kilburn Engineering Ltd. Share Price Rises 9.96% Today

Univest, 21 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.

Compare KILBURN ENGG with

Equitymaster, 16 Oct

KLBRENG_B Forecast — Price Target — Prediction for 2027

TradingView, 26 JunAnalyst view

🟡Mixed / dependsBroker commentary — an opinion about the price rather than new information about the business.

Kilburn Engineering Wins ₹70 Cr Order; Shares Jump 3%

HDFC Sky, 17 JunOrder 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.

Watch Items

Revenue growth is negative (-9.5%) on the latest reported period — check if this is one-off or a trend.
Cross-check against the company's latest quarterly filing / investor presentation before acting.

DalalBaazaar Thesis

🟢Business QualityStrong13.9/20

🟢Financial HealthStrong14.5/20

🟢GrowthStrong14.9/20

🟡ProfitabilityModerate8.2/15

🟡ValuationFair7.5/15

🔴RiskHigh4.4/10

Attractive on both counts

A good business currently available at an undemanding price — the combination this framework exists to look for. The work left is qualitative: whether the advantage the numbers imply is one you can identify and expect to last. 2 high-severity red flags sit above this conclusion and should be read first.

This thesis breaks if

✓Revenue growth stays above 31% a year41.6% CAGR
✓EBITDA margin holds above 24%25.9%
✗Free cash flow remains positive-₹34 Cr
✓Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x0.6x
✓ROCE stays above 18%20.9%