Nava Limited

Industrials — Conglomerates · NSE

₹542.95+₹1.70 (+0.31%)

DalalBaazaar Score

58 / 100

🟡 Moderate

Verdict

NEUTRAL

Risk

Low

Driven by small-cap size, which brings sharper price swings, falling profits.

In simple words: Reasonable but unspectacular business quality, 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, 7:02 pm

Understanding the Business

Company site ↗

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

What does this company do?

Nava Limited, together with its subsidiaries, engages in ferroalloy manufacturing, energy, mining, agribusiness, and operation and maintenance services in India, Zambia, the United States, Hong Kong, Japan, the United Arab Emirates, and internationally.

IndustryConglomerates

SectorIndustrials

Employees1,249

Annual revenue₹4,269 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹4,269 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹18 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹43 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 1,249 employees supports ₹3.42 Cr of revenue a year, the signature of a capital- or asset-led business.

Revenue / employee₹3.42 Cr

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 11.1% 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 ROE15.2%

What has been driving growth?

Sales and margins have both contributed to where profit is now. Over 3 years revenue moved +22% while net margin moved -30% 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+22%

Margin effect-30%

DalalBaazaar Score

58/ 100

Moderate

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✗ Revenue CAGR of only 6.8% — barely ahead of inflation
✗ Profit has declined at 5.3% a year
✗ Profit is compounding slower than revenue — margins are being squeezed as the business grows
✗ Latest-year revenue growth of 1.6% is below the longer-term trend — momentum is fading
✗ Profit fell 10.0% in the latest year

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

58/ 100

Average

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

Valuation

56/ 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

20.3x

3Y Median

15.0x

40 monthly readings · mean 13.9x · range 6.0x–20.4x

Sector Median

88.8x

median of 3 sector peers

⚠️Current valuation is approximately 35% above its 3y median of 15.0x. Paying more than usual needs a reason — faster growth, a better balance sheet, or a re-rating you believe in.

🟢Against its sector it trades 77% below the peer median of 88.8x.

vs. its own history

Expensive

15.0x median over 40 months · +35%

vs. sector peers

Cheap

88.8x median of 3 peers · -77%

vs. generic bands

Fair

15x–35x

EV/EBITDA

8.4x

PEG

—

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well3

Debt is being paid down
Total debt is down 28% over 3 years.
Very low debt
Debt/Equity of 0.21x leaves the balance sheet with plenty of headroom.
Consistently profitable
Profitable in every one of the last 4 reported years.

🔴 What Needs Attention2

Return on equity is falling
ROE has dropped from 15.4% to 9.0% — each rupee of shareholder capital earns less than it did.
Return on capital is falling
ROCE has declined from 17.9% to 11.1% — often a sign of competition or overexpansion.

Red Flags

1 item require attention · 1 high

🔴Significant margin compressionFinancial
EBITDA margin has fallen 10.9 points, from 54.0% to 43.1%.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Deleveraging frees up earnings
Debt is down 28% 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 77% 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 ₹505 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?

Margins are being competed away
EBITDA margin has fallen from 54.0% to 43.1%. If the trend continues, profit falls even on flat sales — and margin decline rarely reverses quickly.
The price already assumes success
The stock trades 35% above its own median multiple. At this level the business has to deliver just to stand still, and a stumble is repriced twice — lower earnings on a lower multiple.
Growth barely outpaces inflation
Revenue compounding at 6.8% 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 15.4% to 9.0%. 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
Small 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 41%✓ 43.1%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
2Revenue growth stays above 5% a year✓ 6.8% CAGR
Latest reported year was 1.6%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.
3Free cash flow remains positive✓ ₹505 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
4Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x✓ 1.2x
The ratio lenders write covenants against; it survives a small or negative equity base, unlike Debt/Equity.
5ROCE stays above 8%✓ 11.1%
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

3 good · 7 neutral · 1 weak

Market Cap

₹15,382 Cr

Small Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

20.3x

Fair

Fairly valued against the generic band

P/B Ratio

1.76x

Fair

Moderate premium to the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹26.74

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

9.0%

Moderate

Moderate capital efficiency

ROCE

11.1%

Moderate

Moderate return on the capital in the business

Debt/Equity

0.21x

Low

Conservative leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

1.6%

Modest

Modest growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

-10.0%

Falling

Profits are shrinking

Dividend Yield

1.57%

Modest

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

Free Cash Flow

₹505 Cr

Cash generative

Generates cash even after funding its capex

More Metrics

Operating Margin

35.1%

Good

Healthy core-business profitability

Net Margin

17.5%

Good

Strong bottom-line conversion

Current Ratio

7.59

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

552.4 / 558.9

Bearish alignment (short < long)

Price vs SMA 200

Below

Long-term downtrend

RSI (14)

46.9

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹3,508 Cr	₹3,802 Cr	₹3,965 Cr	₹4,269 Cr	+6.8%
EBITDA	₹1,894 Cr	₹1,838 Cr	₹1,935 Cr	₹1,839 Cr	-1.0%
EBITDA Margin	54.0%	48.3%	48.8%	43.1%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹928 Cr	₹944 Cr	₹1,091 Cr	₹787 Cr	-5.3%
EPS	₹31.97	₹32.52	₹37.63	₹27.8	-4.5%
ROE	15.4%	13.7%	14.3%	9.0%	—
ROCE	17.9%	18.2%	15.4%	11.1%	—
Total Debt	₹3,074 Cr	₹414 Cr	₹893 Cr	₹2,226 Cr	-10.2%
Free Cash Flow	₹1,123 Cr	₹3,019 Cr	₹1,305 Cr	₹505 Cr	-23.4%

🟢 Revenue has grown at 6.8% a year over 3 years.

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

🔴 EBITDA Margin has fallen from 54.0% to 43.1% over 3 years (-10.9 pts).

🔴 PAT (Net Profit) has shrunk at 5.3% a year over 3 years.

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

🔴 ROE has fallen from 15.4% to 9.0% over 3 years (-6.4 pts).

🔴 ROCE has fallen from 17.9% to 11.1% over 3 years (-6.8 pts).

🟢 Total Debt has shrunk at 10.2% a year over 3 years.

🔴 Free Cash Flow has shrunk at 23.4% a year over 3 years.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹14,372 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹3,608 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹2,099 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

₹2,312 Cr

Capex

-₹1,807 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

5.7%

Insider Holding

50.5%

Corporate Actions

Dividend Rate

₹8.5

Ex-Dividend Date

07 Aug 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

3 mixed1 negative2 general

NAVA Ltd Share Price Target 2027, 2028 and 2030: Long Term Analyst Forecast

Univest, 07 AugAnalyst view

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

Volume buzzers: VST Industries, MMTC, Nava, SCI, SPML zoom up to 20%

Business Standard, 17 Apr

NAVA Consolidated March 2026 Net Sales at Rs 1,142.85 crore, up 12.24% Y-o-Y

Moneycontrol.com, 15 May

NAVA Q4 Net Profit Drops 44% to ₹1.3 Billion Amid Margin Pressure

Sahi, 15 MayResults

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

NAVA Limited Q3FY26 Conference Call Transcript Reveals Strong Growth and Expansion

scanx.trade, 05 FebCapacity

🟡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.

Earnings call transcript: Nava Limited posts record Q1 2026 income, shares slip

Investing.com, 14 AugResults

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

Watch Items

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

DalalBaazaar Thesis

StrongBusiness Quality · Financial Health · Risk

MiddlingProfitability · Valuation

WeakGrowth

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.

All 5 tripwires holding · see Key things to watch ↑