Maximus International Limited

Basic Materials — Specialty Chemicals · BSE

₹15.10+₹0.22 (+1.48%)

DalalBaazaar Score

53 / 100

🟡 Moderate

Verdict

NEUTRAL

Risk

High

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

In simple words: Reasonable but unspectacular business quality, 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, 6:59 pm

Understanding the Business

Company site ↗

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

What does this company do?

Maximus International Limited engages in the trading of oils and chemicals in India and internationally. It manufactures and markets lubricant oils, various base oils, and other petro-chemical products for use in automotive, metal working, refrigeration, and paint industries.

IndustrySpecialty Chemicals

SectorBasic Materials

Employees16

Annual revenue₹184 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹184 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹5 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹10 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 16 employees supports ₹11.51 Cr of revenue a year, the signature of a capital- or asset-led business.

Revenue / employee₹11.51 Cr

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are ASIAN PAINTS LIMITED, PIDILITE INDUSTRIES LTD, SRF LTD, UPL 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 14.1% 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 ROE22.3%

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 +93% while net margin moved -31% 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+93%

Margin effect-31%

DalalBaazaar Score

53/ 100

Moderate

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

• ROCE of 14.1% is adequate but not distinctive
✗ ROCE has fallen by 4.9 points — returns are eroding
✗ EBITDA margin of 9.9% is thin — little cushion if costs rise
✗ Net margin of 4.4% is slim
• Revenue has compounded at 24.6% a year, which is the base these returns are earned on

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

51/ 100

Average

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

Valuation

63/ 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

22.9x

3Y Median

22.0x

40 monthly readings · mean 24.0x · range 13.2x–43.5x

Sector Median

40.4x

median of 4 sector peers

🟡Currently trading close to its 3y median of 22.0x — the market is paying about what it usually pays for this company.

🟢Against its sector it trades 43% below the peer median of 40.4x.

vs. its own history

Fair

22.0x median over 40 months · +4%

vs. sector peers

Cheap

40.4x median of 4 peers · -43%

vs. generic bands

Fair

15x–35x

EV/EBITDA

13.4x

PEG

2.28

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well1

Consistently profitable
Profitable in every one of the last 4 reported years.

🔴 What Needs Attention2

Return on equity is falling
ROE has dropped from 21.7% to 10.6% — each rupee of shareholder capital earns less than it did.
Return on capital is falling
ROCE has declined from 19.0% to 14.1% — often a sign of competition or overexpansion.

Red Flags

3 items require attention · 3 high

🔴Debt has risen sharplyFinancial
Total debt is up 322% over 3 years, from ₹9 Cr to ₹39 Cr.
🔴Free cash flow negative for 3 yearsFinancial
The business has not covered its capital spending from operations for several years running, which has to be funded externally.
🔴Receivables growing faster than salesFinancial
Receivables up 184% against revenue up 93% — sales are being booked faster than they are collected.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Cheaper than its peers
It trades 43% 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 184% against revenue up 93%. 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 21.7% to 10.6%. 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
3 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 18% a year✓ 24.6% CAGR
Latest reported year was 51.6%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.
2EBITDA margin holds above 8%✓ 9.9%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
3Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x✗ 2.2x
The ratio lenders write covenants against; it survives a small or negative equity base, unlike Debt/Equity.
4Free cash flow remains positive✗ -₹12 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
5ROCE stays above 11%✓ 14.1%
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

₹205 Cr

Micro Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

22.9x

Fair

Fairly valued against the generic band

P/B Ratio

2.39x

Fair

Moderate premium to the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹0.66

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

10.6%

Moderate

Moderate capital efficiency

ROCE

14.1%

Moderate

Moderate return on the capital in the business

Debt/Equity

0.41x

Low

Conservative leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

51.6%

Healthy

Healthy top-line growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

-11.8%

Falling

Profits are shrinking

Dividend Yield

None

No dividend yield reported — usually means no payout, but verify if one was recently initiated

Free Cash Flow

-₹12 Cr

Cash burning

Spending more cash than the operations bring in

More Metrics

Operating Margin

6.4%

Average

Average margins

Net Margin

4.4%

Average

Average bottom-line conversion

Current Ratio

2.05

Comfortable

Healthy short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

-0.28

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

89%

Near high

Near its 52-week high

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

14.9 / 14.7

Bullish alignment (short > long)

Price vs SMA 200

Above

Long-term uptrend

RSI (14)

49.2

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹95 Cr	₹109 Cr	₹156 Cr	₹184 Cr	+24.6%
EBITDA	₹11 Cr	₹11 Cr	₹15 Cr	₹18 Cr	+19.8%
EBITDA Margin	11.1%	10.3%	9.8%	9.9%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹7 Cr	₹8 Cr	₹9 Cr	₹9 Cr	+10.0%
EPS	₹0.55	₹0.63	₹0.68	₹0.68	+7.3%
ROE	21.7%	19.5%	12.6%	10.6%	—
ROCE	19.0%	17.5%	15.1%	14.1%	—
Total Debt	₹9 Cr	₹18 Cr	₹23 Cr	₹39 Cr	+61.7%
Free Cash Flow	₹1 Cr	-₹10 Cr	-₹20 Cr	-₹12 Cr	—

🟢 Revenue has grown at 24.6% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA has grown at 19.8% a year over 3 years.

🔴 EBITDA Margin has fallen from 11.1% to 9.9% over 3 years (-1.2 pts).

🟢 PAT (Net Profit) has grown at 10.0% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EPS has grown at 7.3% a year over 3 years.

🔴 ROE has fallen from 21.7% to 10.6% over 3 years (-11.0 pts).

🔴 ROCE has fallen from 19.0% to 14.1% over 3 years (-4.9 pts).

🔴 Total Debt has grown at 61.7% a year over 3 years.

🔴 Free Cash Flow has turned negative, from ₹1 Cr to -₹12 Cr.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹179 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹84 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹1 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

-₹8 Cr

Capex

-₹4 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

1.3%

Insider Holding

69.8%

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
ASIAN PAINTS LIMITED	46.9x	22.3%
PIDILITE INDUSTRIES LTD	57.8x	24.4%
SRF LTD	33.8x	15.4%
UPL LIMITED	21.5x	6.1%

Recent News

1 mixed5 general

Compare with

Equitymaster, 16 Oct

Maximus International Ltd. Financials – Balance Sheet, Profit & Loss, Cash Flow

Value Research, 04 Sept

Maximus International board to consider loan-to-equity conversion

scanx.trade, 06 Oct

Maximus International shareholders approve all eight AGM resolutions

scanx.trade, 03 Oct

Maximus International to Acquire 40% Strategic Stake in Quebec Petroleum Resources Limited

Business Standard, 25 JunM&A

🟡Mixed / dependsAcquisitions change the balance sheet before they change the earnings. Look at what was paid, how it was funded, and whether debt rose.

Maximus International Ltd. Peer Comparison – Compare with Others

Value Research, 02 Sept

Watch Items

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

DalalBaazaar Thesis

MiddlingFinancial Health · Growth · Valuation · Risk

WeakBusiness Quality · Profitability

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

2 of 5 tripwires tripped — Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x; Free cash flow remains positive · see Key things to watch ↑