Linc Limited

Industrials — Business Equipment & Supplies · NSE

₹88.90−₹0.45 (−0.50%)

DalalBaazaar Score

52 / 100

🟡 Moderate

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, though profits are falling even as sales grow. 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

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 Linc Limited — what it does, how it earns, and who it competes with, before any of the numbers below.

What does this company do?

Linc Limited manufactures and sells writing instruments and stationeries in India and internationally.

IndustryBusiness Equipment & Supplies

SectorIndustrials

Employees1,078

Annual revenue₹539 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹539 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹6 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹13 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 1,078 employees supports ₹50.0 lakh of revenue a year, the signature of a people-led business.

EBITDA margin12.5%

Net margin6.1%

Revenue / employee₹50.0 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.

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

SIEMENS LTDP/E 88.8x · ROE 10.5%

ABB INDIA LIMITEDP/E 92.6x · ROE 19.1%

What is its competitive advantage?Some evidence

ROCE of 18.5% is above what capital typically costs, which suggests some pricing power, though not yet the sustained, wide gap that marks a durable advantage.

ROCE18.5%

ROE12.7%

Peer median ROE15.2%

What has been driving growth?

Profit has moved mainly because margins changed, not because the business sold much more. Over 3 years revenue moved +12% while net margin moved -22% 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+12%

Margin effect-22%

DalalBaazaar Score

52/ 100

Moderate

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✗ Revenue CAGR of only 3.8% — barely ahead of inflation
✗ Profit has declined at 4.3% a year
✗ Profit is compounding slower than revenue — margins are being squeezed as the business grows
✗ Profit fell 16.9% in the latest year

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

48/ 100

Average

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

Valuation

75/ 100

Cheap

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

16.7x

3Y Median

24.0x

40 monthly readings · mean 44.3x · range 13.5x–122.1x

Sector Median

88.8x

median of 3 sector peers

🟢Current valuation is approximately 30% below its 3y median of 24.0x. 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 81% below the peer median of 88.8x.

vs. its own history

Cheap

24.0x median over 40 months · -30%

vs. sector peers

Cheap

88.8x median of 3 peers · -81%

vs. generic bands

Fair

15x–35x

P/E (Trailing)

16.7x

P/B

2.05x

EV/EBITDA

8.0x

PEG

—

Dividend Yield

1.69%

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well3

Valuation below its historical average
At 16.7x the stock trades 30% below its own median of 24.0x.
Very low debt
Debt/Equity of 0.10x leaves the balance sheet with plenty of headroom.
Consistently profitable
Profitable in every one of the last 4 reported years.

🔴 What Needs Attention4

Debt is rising
Total debt is up 2651% 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 21.1% to 12.7% — each rupee of shareholder capital earns less than it did.
Return on capital is falling
ROCE has declined from 27.7% to 18.5% — often a sign of competition or overexpansion.

Red Flags

2 items require attention · 1 high · 1 watch

🔴Debt has risen sharplyFinancial
Total debt is up 2651% over 3 years, from ₹1 Cr to ₹27 Cr.
🟡Free cash flow is negativeFinancial
Free cash flow was -₹5 Cr in the latest year.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Capital compounds at a high rate
ROCE of 18.5% 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.
Priced below its own history
The stock trades 30% 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 81% 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?

Growth barely outpaces inflation
Revenue compounding at 3.8% 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.
Returns on shareholder capital are falling
ROE has dropped from 21.1% to 12.7%. 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.

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

1EBITDA margin holds above 11%✓ 12.5%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
2Free cash flow remains positive✗ -₹5 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
3Revenue growth stays above 4% a year✗ 3.8% CAGR
Latest reported year was 1.4%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.
4Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x✓ 0.4x
The ratio lenders write covenants against; it survives a small or negative equity base, unlike Debt/Equity.
5ROCE stays above 15%✓ 18.5%
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 · 6 neutral · 2 weak

Market Cap

₹529 Cr

Micro Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

16.7x

Fair

Fairly valued against the generic band

P/B Ratio

2.05x

Fair

Moderate premium to the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹5.31

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

12.7%

Moderate

Moderate capital efficiency

ROCE

18.5%

Strong

Earns comfortably above its likely cost of capital

Debt/Equity

0.10x

Low

Conservative leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

1.4%

Modest

Modest growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

-16.9%

Falling

Profits are shrinking

Dividend Yield

1.69%

Modest

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

Free Cash Flow

-₹5 Cr

Cash burning

Spending more cash than the operations bring in

More Metrics

CMP

₹88.9

Operating Margin

5.9%

Average

Average margins

Net Margin

5.8%

Average

Average bottom-line conversion

Current Ratio

2.50

Comfortable

Healthy short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

0.47

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

17%

Mid-range

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

88.4 / 93.2

Bearish alignment (short < long)

Price vs SMA 200

Below

Long-term downtrend

RSI (14)

40.9

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹482 Cr	₹504 Cr	₹540 Cr	₹539 Cr	+3.8%
EBITDA	₹65 Cr	₹64 Cr	₹69 Cr	₹68 Cr	+1.0%
EBITDA Margin	13.6%	12.6%	12.7%	12.5%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹37 Cr	₹34 Cr	₹38 Cr	₹33 Cr	-4.3%
EPS	₹6.29	₹1.44	₹6.4	₹5.5	-4.4%
ROE	21.1%	16.7%	16.2%	12.7%	—
ROCE	27.7%	21.0%	20.6%	18.5%	—
Total Debt	₹1 Cr	₹26 Cr	₹27 Cr	₹27 Cr	+201.9%
Free Cash Flow	₹18 Cr	₹10 Cr	₹40 Cr	-₹5 Cr	—

🟢 Revenue has grown at 3.8% a year over 3 years.

🟡 EBITDA has been broadly flat over 3 years (1.0% a year).

🔴 EBITDA Margin has fallen from 13.6% to 12.5% over 3 years (-1.1 pts).

🔴 PAT (Net Profit) has shrunk at 4.3% a year over 3 years.

🔴 EPS has shrunk at 4.4% a year over 3 years.

🔴 ROE has fallen from 21.1% to 12.7% over 3 years (-8.4 pts).

🔴 ROCE has fallen from 27.7% to 18.5% over 3 years (-9.2 pts).

🔴 Total Debt has grown at 201.9% a year over 3 years.

🔴 Free Cash Flow has turned negative, from ₹18 Cr to -₹5 Cr.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹359 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹100 Cr

Total Debt

₹27 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹13 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

₹33 Cr

Capex

-₹38 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

0.1%

Insider Holding

80.7%

Corporate Actions

Dividend Rate

₹1.5

Ex-Dividend Date

10 Sept 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 mixed5 general

Linc Share Price Update: Price Rise, Ratios and Sector View

Univest, 15 OctPrice 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.

Linc Ltd. Stock News: Near One-Year Low Streak Continues

Univest, 12 Oct

DOMS Industries, Flair Writing, Linc shares get 'Buy' calls from Nirmal Bang; upside seen up to 25%

Business Today, 17 Apr

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

Business Standard, 10 Mar

TAL or LINC: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

Yahoo Finance, 23 Sept

LINC Limited Makes Rs 5.61 Crore Investment in Subsidiary Morris Linc

scanx.trade, 13 Apr

Watch Items

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

DalalBaazaar Thesis

🟡Business QualityAdequate10.3/20

🟢Financial HealthStrong13/20

🔴GrowthWeak5.7/20

🟡ProfitabilityModerate7.1/15

🟢ValuationAttractive10.7/15

🟡RiskModerate5.4/10

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 11%12.5%
✗Free cash flow remains positive-₹5 Cr
✗Revenue growth stays above 4% a year3.8% CAGR
✓Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x0.4x
✓ROCE stays above 15%18.5%