Krowniq Limited

Consumer Defensive — Household & Personal Products · BSE

₹48.50₹0.00 (0.00%)

DalalBaazaar Score

44 / 100

🟡 Moderate

Verdict

CAUTION

Risk

High

Driven by high debt relative to equity, negative free cash flow, micro-cap size, which brings thin liquidity.

In simple words: Strong business and financial position, with both sales and profits growing well. Debt is the main factor to watch.

Decision support, not a buy or sell call.

As of 18 Oct 2026, 6:10 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 Krowniq Limited — what it does, how it earns, and who it competes with, before any of the numbers below.

What does this company do?

Krowniq Limited engages in the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) business in India and internationally.

IndustryHousehold & Personal Products

SectorConsumer Defensive

Employees64

Annual revenue₹389 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹389 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹2 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹3 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 64 employees supports ₹6.08 Cr of revenue a year, the signature of a capital- or asset-led business.

EBITDA margin3.3%

Net margin1.7%

Revenue / employee₹6.08 Cr

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are HINDUSTAN UNILEVER LTD., DABUR INDIA LTD, ITC LTD, BRITANNIA INDUSTRIES LTD. These are the companies its valuation and returns are measured against elsewhere in this report.

HINDUSTAN UNILEVER LTD.P/E 42.5x · ROE 21.5%

DABUR INDIA LTDP/E 34.7x · ROE 17.2%

ITC LTDP/E 16.6x · ROE 27.4%

BRITANNIA INDUSTRIES LTDP/E 44.1x · ROE 51.0%

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

ROCE has stayed above 15% in every year available and stands at 26.8%. Returns that high normally get competed away; when they persist, something is protecting them, and its ROE of 15.9% against a peer median of 27.4% is consistent with that. What that something is — brand, scale, switching costs, regulation — the accounts cannot tell you.

ROCE26.8%

ROE15.9%

Peer median ROE27.4%

What has been driving growth?

Profit has moved mainly because margins changed, not because the business sold much more. Over 3 years revenue moved -13% while net margin moved -53% 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-13%

Margin effect-53%

DalalBaazaar Score

44/ 100

Moderate

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✗ Revenue has contracted at 4.5% a year
✗ Profit has declined at 25.6% a year

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

38/ 100

Weak

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

Valuation

76/ 100

Cheap

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

Optically cheap, but the underlying business scores poorly. Cheap-and-weak is what a value trap looks like from the outside — the low price may be deserved.

Historical Valuation

Current P/E

8.7x

Sector Median

38.6x

median of 4 sector peers

🟢Against its sector it trades 78% below the peer median of 38.6x.

vs. its own history

Not enough price and earnings history

vs. sector peers

Cheap

38.6x median of 4 peers · -78%

vs. generic bands

Cheap

Below 15x

P/E (Trailing)

8.7x

P/B

2.30x

EV/EBITDA

14.9x

PEG

—

Dividend Yield

None

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well3

Debt is being paid down
Total debt is down 26% over 3 years.
High return on capital employed
ROCE of 26.8% is the mark of a business that converts capital into profit efficiently.
Consistently profitable
Profitable in every one of the last 4 reported years.

🔴 What Needs Attention5

Margins are compressing
EBITDA margin has slipped from 6.6% to 3.3% over 3 years.
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 57.0% to 15.9% — each rupee of shareholder capital earns less than it did.
Return on capital is falling
ROCE has declined from 79.2% to 26.8% — often a sign of competition or overexpansion.
Inventory building faster than sales
Inventory is up 172% against revenue growth of -13% — stock may not be moving.

Red Flags

6 items require attention · 3 high · 3 watch

🔴High leverageFinancial
Debt/Equity of 2.61x — earnings must service borrowings before shareholders see anything.
🔴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.
🔴Inventory building faster than salesFinancial
Inventory up 172% against revenue up -13% — stock may not be moving.
🟡Free cash flow is negativeFinancial
Free cash flow was -₹32 Cr in the latest year.
🟡Profit is decliningFinancial
Net profit is down 59% over 3 years.
🟡Margins are compressingFinancial
EBITDA margin is down 3.2 points over 3 years.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Capital compounds at a high rate
ROCE of 26.8% 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.
Deleveraging frees up earnings
Debt is down 26% over 3 years. Every rupee of interest not paid drops to the bottom line, so profit can grow even if revenue does not.
Cheaper than its peers
It trades 78% 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?

Margins are being competed away
EBITDA margin has fallen from 6.6% to 3.3%. If the trend continues, profit falls even on flat sales — and margin decline rarely reverses quickly.
The debt load needs earnings to hold up
Debt is 8.2x EBITDA. At that level a downturn in earnings turns a manageable balance sheet into a refinancing problem, and lenders get paid before shareholders.
Returns on shareholder capital are falling
ROE has dropped from 57.0% to 15.9%. 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.
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 1%✓ 3.3%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
2Debt / EBITDA falls below 3x✗ 8.2x
Already stretched, so this is a reduction target rather than a level to hold. Around 3x is where lenders typically start attaching conditions.
3Free cash flow remains positive✗ -₹32 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
4Interest cover stays above 3x✓ 3.9x
How much operating profit can fall before interest stops being comfortably covered.
5ROCE stays above 24%✓ 26.8%
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
✗ Short-term technical trend isn't bearish

Price history

Quick Metrics

6 good · 3 neutral · 2 weak

Market Cap

₹94 Cr

Micro Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

8.7x

Cheap

Cheap against the generic band

P/B Ratio

2.30x

Fair

Moderate premium to the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹5.59

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

15.9%

Strong

Strong capital efficiency

ROCE

26.8%

Strong

Earns comfortably above its likely cost of capital

Debt/Equity

2.61x

High

High leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

88.6%

Healthy

Healthy top-line growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

148.1%

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

-₹32 Cr

Cash burning

Spending more cash than the operations bring in

More Metrics

CMP

₹48.5

Operating Margin

2.7%

Weak

Thin margins leave little room for error

Net Margin

2.4%

Weak

Very little revenue reaches the bottom line

Current Ratio

1.04

Adequate

Adequate, but no real cushion

Beta (vs Nifty)

0.12

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

59%

Mid-range

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

49.1 / 50.2

Bearish alignment (short < long)

RSI (14)

39.4

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹446 Cr	₹395 Cr	₹292 Cr	₹389 Cr	-4.5%
EBITDA	₹29 Cr	₹12 Cr	₹10 Cr	₹13 Cr	-23.7%
EBITDA Margin	6.6%	3.0%	3.4%	3.3%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹16 Cr	₹4 Cr	₹3 Cr	₹6 Cr	-25.6%
EPS	₹8.12	₹2	₹1.35	₹3.34	-25.6%
ROE	57.0%	12.3%	7.7%	15.9%	—
ROCE	79.2%	28.8%	21.2%	26.8%	—
Total Debt	₹144 Cr	₹89 Cr	₹43 Cr	₹107 Cr	-9.5%
Free Cash Flow	-₹24 Cr	₹65 Cr	₹57 Cr	-₹32 Cr	—

🔴 Revenue has shrunk at 4.5% a year over 3 years.

🔴 EBITDA has shrunk at 23.7% a year over 3 years.

🔴 EBITDA Margin has fallen from 6.6% to 3.3% over 3 years (-3.2 pts).

🔴 PAT (Net Profit) has shrunk at 25.6% a year over 3 years.

🔴 EPS has shrunk at 25.6% a year over 3 years.

🔴 ROE has fallen from 57.0% to 15.9% over 3 years (-41.2 pts).

🔴 ROCE has fallen from 79.2% to 26.8% over 3 years (-52.4 pts).

🟢 Total Debt has shrunk at 9.5% a year over 3 years.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹190 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹149 Cr

Total Debt

₹107 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹7 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

-₹32 Cr

Capex

-₹0 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

0.0%

Insider Holding

68.3%

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
HINDUSTAN UNILEVER LTD.	42.5x	21.5%
DABUR INDIA LTD	34.7x	17.2%
ITC LTD	16.6x	27.4%
BRITANNIA INDUSTRIES LTD	44.1x	51.0%

Recent News

1 positive5 general

NEAGI Stock Price and Chart — NSE:NEAGI

TradingView, 21 Apr

Krowniq net profit surges 513% in Q1FY26 on revenue growth

scanx.trade, 11 AugResults

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

Lykis Ltd Cash Flow, Financial Statements

The Economic Times, 29 Sept

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TradingView, 12 Aug

Watch Items

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

DalalBaazaar Thesis

🟡Business QualityAdequate9.6/20

🟡Financial HealthAdequate9.7/20

🔴GrowthWeak2.4/20

🟡ProfitabilityModerate7.3/15

🟢ValuationAttractive11/15

🔴RiskHigh3.7/10

Cheap, but for a reason

The low price is the whole case here, and the business underneath scores poorly. Cheap-and-weak is what a value trap looks like from the outside — it needs a specific reason the numbers are about to improve, not just the observation that they are low. 3 high-severity red flags sit above this conclusion and should be read first.

This thesis breaks if

✓EBITDA margin holds above 1%3.3%
✗Debt / EBITDA falls below 3x8.2x
✗Free cash flow remains positive-₹32 Cr
✓Interest cover stays above 3x3.9x
✓ROCE stays above 24%26.8%