Madhya Bharat Agro Products Limited

Basic Materials — Agricultural Inputs · NSE

₹166.90−₹3.88 (−2.27%)

DalalBaazaar Score

52 / 100

🟡 Moderate

Verdict

CAUTION

Risk

High

Driven by high debt relative to equity, negative free cash flow, small-cap size, which brings sharper price swings.

In simple words: Strong business and financial position, with modest growth. Debt is the main factor to watch.

Decision support, not a buy or sell call.

As of 18 Oct 2026, 7:45 pm

Understanding the Business

Company site ↗

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

What does this company do?

Madhya Bharat Agro Products Limited manufactures and sells phosphatic fertilizers and industrial chemicals in India.

IndustryAgricultural Inputs

SectorBasic Materials

Employees396

Annual revenue₹1,196 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹1,196 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹13 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹20 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 396 employees supports ₹3.02 Cr of revenue a year, the signature of a capital- or asset-led business.

Revenue / employee₹3.02 Cr

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are TATA STEEL LIMITED, JSW STEEL LIMITED, ULTRATECH CEMENT LIMITED, ASIAN PAINTS 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?Some evidence

ROCE of 19.4% is above what capital typically costs, which suggests some pricing power, though not yet the sustained, wide gap that marks a durable advantage.

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 +135% while net margin moved -49% 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+135%

Margin effect-49%

DalalBaazaar Score

52/ 100

Moderate

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✓ Beta of -0.16 — historically steadier than the index
✗ Small Cap: thinner liquidity and sharper drawdowns are normal
✗ High leverage magnifies any downturn in earnings
✗ Profits have swung sharply from year to year — earnings are hard to forecast
✗ Trading within 10% of its 52-week high — entries here carry more pullback risk
✗ Negative free cash flow means dependence on external funding

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

55/ 100

Average

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

Valuation

39/ 100

Expensive

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

47.3x

3Y Median

64.1x

40 monthly readings · mean 68.5x · range 32.2x–157.0x

Sector Median

28.7x

median of 4 sector peers

🟢Current valuation is approximately 26% below its 3y median of 64.1x. 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 65% above the peer median of 28.7x.

vs. its own history

Cheap

64.1x median over 40 months · -26%

vs. sector peers

Expensive

28.7x median of 4 peers · +65%

vs. generic bands

Expensive

Above 35x

EV/EBITDA

34.0x

PEG

7.23

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 37.8% to 27.3% — each rupee of shareholder capital earns less than it did.
Return on capital is falling
ROCE has declined from 44.8% to 19.4% — often a sign of competition or overexpansion.

Red Flags

6 items require attention · 4 high · 2 watch

🔴Debt has risen sharplyFinancial
Total debt is up 165% over 3 years, from ₹323 Cr to ₹856 Cr.
🔴High leverageFinancial
Debt/Equity of 1.57x — 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.
🔴Significant margin compressionFinancial
EBITDA margin has fallen 21.9 points, from 42.0% to 20.1%.
🟡Free cash flow is negativeFinancial
Free cash flow was -₹526 Cr in the latest year.
🟡Low reported insider holdingOwnership
Reported insider holding is 0.0%. For Indian companies this field is an unreliable proxy — check the official promoter shareholding in the exchange filing.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Capital compounds at a high rate
ROCE of 19.4% 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 26% 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.
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 42.0% to 20.1%. 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 3.6x EBITDA. At that level a downturn in earnings turns a manageable balance sheet into a refinancing problem, and lenders get paid before shareholders.
A premium to the sector to defend
It trades 65% above the peer median. That premium needs a reason that persists, or it closes.
Returns on shareholder capital are falling
ROE has dropped from 37.8% to 27.3%. 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.

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

1Revenue growth stays above 25% a year✓ 33.0% CAGR
Latest reported year was 1.6%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.
2EBITDA margin holds above 18%✓ 20.1%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
3Debt / EBITDA falls below 3x✗ 3.6x
Already stretched, so this is a reduction target rather than a level to hold. Around 3x is where lenders typically start attaching conditions.
4Free cash flow remains positive✗ -₹526 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
5ROCE stays above 16%✓ 19.4%
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

4 good · 3 neutral · 4 weak

Market Cap

₹7,312 Cr

Small Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

47.3x

Expensive

Expensive — verify against sector peers

P/B Ratio

13.30x

Rich

Steep premium to book — needs high, durable returns to justify

EPS (TTM)

₹3.53

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

27.3%

Strong

Strong capital efficiency

ROCE

19.4%

Strong

Earns comfortably above its likely cost of capital

Debt/Equity

1.57x

High

High leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

1.6%

Modest

Modest growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

16.5%

Healthy

Profits growing at a healthy clip

Dividend Yield

0.06%

Modest

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

Free Cash Flow

-₹526 Cr

Cash burning

Spending more cash than the operations bring in

More Metrics

Operating Margin

14.2%

Average

Average margins

Net Margin

8.2%

Average

Average bottom-line conversion

Current Ratio

1.44

Comfortable

Healthy short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

-0.16

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

92%

Near high

Near its 52-week high

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

166.0 / 164.5

Bullish alignment (short > long)

Price vs SMA 200

Above

Long-term uptrend

RSI (14)

48.3

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹508 Cr	₹493 Cr	₹691 Cr	₹1,196 Cr	+33.0%
EBITDA	₹213 Cr	₹107 Cr	₹155 Cr	₹240 Cr	+4.0%
EBITDA Margin	42.0%	21.6%	22.4%	20.1%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹124 Cr	₹25 Cr	₹57 Cr	₹150 Cr	+6.5%
EPS	₹1.42	₹0.57	₹1.31	₹3.43	+34.2%
ROE	37.8%	7.1%	14.2%	27.3%	—
ROCE	44.8%	17.1%	20.4%	19.4%	—
Total Debt	₹323 Cr	₹290 Cr	₹318 Cr	₹856 Cr	+38.4%
Free Cash Flow	-₹140 Cr	₹42 Cr	-₹12 Cr	-₹526 Cr	—

🟢 Revenue has grown at 33.0% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA has grown at 4.0% a year over 3 years.

🔴 EBITDA Margin has fallen from 42.0% to 20.1% over 3 years (-21.9 pts).

🟢 PAT (Net Profit) has grown at 6.5% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EPS has grown at 34.2% a year over 3 years.

🔴 ROE has fallen from 37.8% to 27.3% over 3 years (-10.5 pts).

🔴 ROCE has fallen from 44.8% to 19.4% over 3 years (-25.4 pts).

🔴 Total Debt has grown at 38.4% a year over 3 years.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹1,682 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹1,133 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹0 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

-₹127 Cr

Capex

-₹399 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

0.2%

Insider Holding

0.0%

Corporate Actions

Dividend Rate

₹0.1

Ex-Dividend Date

17 Jun 2026

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
TATA STEEL LIMITED	19.8x	10.8%
JSW STEEL LIMITED	12.0x	24.7%
ULTRATECH CEMENT LIMITED	37.6x	11.1%
ASIAN PAINTS LIMITED	46.9x	22.3%

Recent News

2 positive2 mixed2 general

Madhya Bharat Agro Share Price

Upstox, 16 Oct

We Ran A Stock Scan For Earnings Growth And Madhya Bharat Agro Products (NSE:MBAPL) Passed With Ease

Simply Wall Street, 06 JulResults

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

Madhya Bharat Agro Products Approves 1:5 Stock Split to Enhance Market Liquidity

Sahi, 26 MayCapital return

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

Madhya Bharat Agro vs Nifty 50: Share Price Performance Compared

Univest, 05 Oct

Madhya Bharat Agro Products approves 1:5 stock split

scanx.trade, 27 MayCapital return

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

Madhya Bharat Agro Products delivers strong Q1 profit growth amid margin expansion

Indiatimes, 16 JulCapacity

🟡Mixed / dependsCapacity additions can raise revenue over two to three years, but the capital spend usually pressures free cash flow first. Worth checking whether the capex is funded from operations or from borrowing.

Watch Items

Trading very close to its 52-week high — momentum-driven entries here carry more mean-reversion risk.
Cross-check against the company's latest quarterly filing / investor presentation before acting.
Reported insider holding is low — cross-check the official promoter shareholding % in the company's exchange filing.

DalalBaazaar Thesis

StrongBusiness Quality

MiddlingGrowth · Profitability

WeakFinancial Health · Valuation · 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. 4 high-severity red flags sit above this conclusion and should be read first.

2 of 5 tripwires tripped — Debt / EBITDA falls below 3x; Free cash flow remains positive · see Key things to watch ↑