Kokuyo Camlin Limited

Industrials — Business Equipment & Supplies · NSE

₹71.50−₹0.56 (−0.78%)

DalalBaazaar Score

51 / 100

🟡 Moderate

Verdict

NEUTRAL

Risk

Low

Driven by micro-cap size, which brings thin liquidity, falling profits.

In simple words: The business is earning a fairly low return on the money invested in it, 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, 7:49 pm

Understanding the Business

Company site ↗

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

What does this company do?

Kokuyo Camlin Limited engages in the manufacturing, selling, and trading of scholastic, writing instruments, notebooks, marker pens, inks, fine-art colours and accessories, hobby colours, pencils and other stationery products in India.

IndustryBusiness Equipment & Supplies

SectorIndustrials

Employees1,021

Annual revenue₹803 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹803 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹3 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹7 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 1,021 employees supports ₹78.7 lakh of revenue a year, the signature of a people-led business.

Revenue / employee₹78.7 lakh

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are LARSEN & TOUBRO LTD., SIEMENS LTD, ABB INDIA LIMITED. 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 10.7% 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.

Peer median ROE15.2%

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 +4% while net margin moved -2% 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+4%

Margin effect-2%

DalalBaazaar Score

51/ 100

Moderate

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✗ ROE of 7.7% is weak

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

49/ 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

32.5x

3Y Median

59.3x

40 monthly readings · mean 77.6x · range 23.6x–192.3x

Sector Median

88.8x

median of 3 sector peers

🟢Current valuation is approximately 45% below its 3y median of 59.3x. 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 63% below the peer median of 88.8x.

vs. its own history

Cheap

59.3x median over 40 months · -45%

vs. sector peers

Cheap

88.8x median of 3 peers · -63%

vs. generic bands

Fair

15x–35x

EV/EBITDA

12.7x

PEG

70.31

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well4

Debt is being paid down
Total debt is down 34% over 3 years.
Cash generation is improving
Free cash flow is up 49% over 3 years.
Very low debt
Debt/Equity of 0.11x leaves the balance sheet with plenty of headroom.
Consistently profitable
Profitable in every one of the last 4 reported years.

🔴 What Needs Attention1

Return on capital is falling
ROCE has declined from 14.5% to 10.7% — often a sign of competition or overexpansion.

Red Flags

1 item require attention · 1 high

🔴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?

Deleveraging frees up earnings
Debt is down 34% over 3 years. Every rupee of interest not paid drops to the bottom line, so profit can grow even if revenue does not.
Priced below its own history
The stock trades 45% 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 63% below the sector median. Either the market sees a problem the numbers do not show, or the discount closes.
Self-funding with balance-sheet headroom
Positive free cash flow of ₹23 Cr alongside low debt means growth, buybacks or dividends need no outside money — and a downturn can be absorbed rather than refinanced.
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?

Growth barely outpaces inflation
Revenue compounding at 1.3% 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.

🟡 Key Things to WatchMeasurable tripwires, set against where this company stands today

1EBITDA margin holds above 5%✓ 7.3%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
2Revenue growth stays above 4% a year✗ 1.3% CAGR
Latest reported year was 0.8%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.
3Free cash flow remains positive✓ ₹23 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 8%✓ 10.7%
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 · 6 neutral · 2 weak

Market Cap

₹717 Cr

Micro Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

32.5x

Fair

Fairly valued against the generic band

P/B Ratio

2.23x

Fair

Moderate premium to the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹2.2

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

7.7%

Weak

Weak capital efficiency

ROCE

10.7%

Moderate

Moderate return on the capital in the business

Debt/Equity

0.11x

Low

Conservative leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

0.8%

Modest

Modest growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

-27.0%

Falling

Profits are shrinking

Dividend Yield

0.42%

Modest

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

Free Cash Flow

₹23 Cr

Cash generative

Generates cash even after funding its capex

More Metrics

Operating Margin

4.6%

Weak

Thin margins leave little room for error

Net Margin

2.7%

Weak

Very little revenue reaches the bottom line

Current Ratio

2.19

Comfortable

Healthy short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

0.60

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

Near low

Near its 52-week low

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

74.6 / 78.2

Bearish alignment (short < long)

Price vs SMA 200

Below

Long-term downtrend

RSI (14)

31.4

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹773 Cr	₹814 Cr	₹760 Cr	₹803 Cr	+1.3%
EBITDA	₹54 Cr	₹77 Cr	₹34 Cr	₹58 Cr	+2.3%
EBITDA Margin	7.0%	9.5%	4.5%	7.3%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹24 Cr	₹44 Cr	₹6 Cr	₹25 Cr	+0.5%
EPS	₹2.44	₹4.37	₹0.58	₹2.47	+0.4%
ROE	9.3%	14.8%	1.9%	7.7%	—
ROCE	14.5%	19.9%	4.1%	10.7%	—
Total Debt	₹56 Cr	₹80 Cr	₹54 Cr	₹37 Cr	-13.0%
Free Cash Flow	₹15 Cr	-₹7 Cr	₹33 Cr	₹23 Cr	+14.3%

🟡 Revenue has been broadly flat over 3 years (1.3% a year).

🟢 EBITDA has grown at 2.3% a year over 3 years.

🟡 EBITDA Margin has held roughly flat at 7.3% over 3 years.

🟡 PAT (Net Profit) has been broadly flat over 3 years (0.5% a year).

🟡 EPS has been broadly flat over 3 years (0.4% a year).

🔴 ROE has fallen from 9.3% to 7.7% over 3 years (-1.6 pts).

🔴 ROCE has fallen from 14.5% to 10.7% over 3 years (-3.8 pts).

🟢 Total Debt has shrunk at 13.0% a year over 3 years.

🟢 Free Cash Flow has grown at 14.3% a year over 3 years.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹467 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹145 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹11 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

₹40 Cr

Capex

-₹17 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

1.0%

Insider Holding

75.7%

Corporate Actions

Dividend Rate

₹0.3

Ex-Dividend Date

30 Jul 2026

Peer Comparison

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

Recent News

1 positive1 mixed1 negative3 general

Marico, JK Tyre, IG Petrochemicals, Kokuyo Camlin, Cheviot Dividend Record Date: Last Day To Buy Shares To Qualify

NDTV Profit, 29 JulCapital return

🟢Potentially positiveCash or shares returned to holders. A buyback is only good value if the shares were cheap when bought.

Kokuyo Camlin Q1FY27 net profit falls 27% to ₹73.01M

scanx.trade, 08 AugResults

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

Kokuyo Camlin Share Price Target 2027 to 2030: Analyst Outlook

Univest, 18 AugAnalyst view

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

KOKUYOCMLN Historical Data

Equitypandit, 06 Feb

Kokuyo Camlin Standalone March 2026 Net Sales at Rs 226.23 crore, up 13.1% Y-o-Y

Moneycontrol.com, 18 May

Nirmal Bang upbeat on stationery stocks; initiates 'Buy' on Linc, DOMS

Business Standard, 10 Mar

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

StrongFinancial Health

MiddlingValuation

WeakBusiness Quality · Growth · Profitability · Risk

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. 1 high-severity red flag sits above this conclusion and should be read first.

1 of 5 tripwires tripped — Revenue growth stays above 4% a year · see Key things to watch ↑