ntc industries limited

Consumer Defensive — Tobacco · NSE

₹135.78+₹0.21 (+0.15%)

DalalBaazaar Score

67 / 100

🟢 Good

Verdict

REASONABLE

Risk

Moderate

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

In simple words: Reasonable but unspectacular business quality, but sales are shrinking. Cash generation is currently the main factor to watch.

Decision support, not a buy or sell call.

As of 18 Oct 2026, 6:08 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 ntc industries limited — what it does, how it earns, and who it competes with, before any of the numbers below.

What does this company do?

ntc industries limited manufactures and sells cigarettes and tobacco products in India. The company offers matchboxes under the Regent brand name and incense sticks under the Agardeep brand name.

IndustryTobacco

SectorConsumer Defensive

Employees52

Annual revenue₹113 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹113 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹17 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹30 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 52 employees supports ₹2.16 Cr of revenue a year, the signature of a capital- or asset-led business.

EBITDA margin29.8%

Net margin17.4%

Revenue / employee₹2.16 Cr

Who are its competitors?

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

ITC LTDP/E 16.6x · ROE 27.4%

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

NESTLE INDIA LIMITEDP/E 59.8x · ROE 79.9%

BRITANNIA INDUSTRIES LTDP/E 44.1x · ROE 51.0%

What is its competitive advantage?Little sign of one

Returns on capital of 11.0% 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.

ROCE11.0%

ROE9.3%

Peer median ROE51.0%

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 +128% while net margin moved +36% 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+128%

Margin effect+36%

DalalBaazaar Score

67/ 100

Good

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✓ Beta of 0.18 — historically steadier than the index
✗ Micro Cap: thinner liquidity and sharper drawdowns are normal
✗ Profits have swung sharply from year to year — earnings are hard to forecast
✗ Negative free cash flow means dependence on external funding

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

67/ 100

Good

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

Valuation

82/ 100

Cheap

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

A good business currently available at an undemanding price — the combination this framework is built to look for.

Historical Valuation

Current P/E

9.3x

Sector Median

43.3x

median of 4 sector peers

🟢Against its sector it trades 78% below the peer median of 43.3x.

vs. its own history

Not enough price and earnings history

vs. sector peers

Cheap

43.3x median of 4 peers · -78%

vs. generic bands

Cheap

Below 15x

P/E (Trailing)

9.3x

P/B

0.94x

EV/EBITDA

8.1x

PEG

0.20

Dividend Yield

None

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well2

Margins are improving
EBITDA margin is up from 22.5% to 29.8% over 3 years.
Consistently profitable
Profitable in every one of the last 4 reported years.

🔴 What Needs Attention2

Debt is rising
Total debt is up 1062% over 3 years — worth checking what it funded.
Free cash flow is negative
The business is not currently covering its capital spending from operations.

Red Flags

4 items require attention · 3 high · 1 watch

🔴Debt has risen sharplyFinancial
Total debt is up 1062% over 3 years, from ₹7 Cr to ₹77 Cr.
🔴Free cash flow negative for 4 yearsFinancial
The business has not covered its capital spending from operations for several years running, which has to be funded externally.
🔴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.
🟡Shareholders have been dilutedOwnership
Shares outstanding are up 22% over 3 years — each existing share owns a smaller slice of the company.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Margin expansion has further to run
EBITDA margin has risen from 22.5% to 29.8%. If that holds, profit compounds faster than sales and today's multiple looks cheaper in hindsight than it does now.
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?

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.
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 24% a year✓ 31.6% CAGR
Latest reported year was -20.3%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.
2EBITDA margin holds above 28%✓ 29.8%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
3Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x✗ 2.3x
The ratio lenders write covenants against; it survives a small or negative equity base, unlike Debt/Equity.
4Free cash flow remains positive✗ -₹10 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
5ROCE stays above 8%✓ 11.0%
Falling returns on capital are usually competition arriving, and show up here before they reach the margin.

Investment Checklist

6 / 10 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

Price history

Quick Metrics

4 good · 5 neutral · 2 weak

Market Cap

₹197 Cr

Micro Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

9.3x

Cheap

Cheap against the generic band

P/B Ratio

0.94x

Reasonable

Reasonable against the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹14.56

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

9.3%

Moderate

Moderate capital efficiency

ROCE

11.0%

Moderate

Moderate return on the capital in the business

Debt/Equity

0.37x

Low

Conservative leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

-20.3%

Shrinking

Sales are contracting

Profit Growth (YoY)

8.2%

Modest

Slow profit growth

Dividend Yield

None

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

Free Cash Flow

-₹10 Cr

Cash burning

Spending more cash than the operations bring in

More Metrics

CMP

₹135.78

Operating Margin

23.4%

Good

Healthy core-business profitability

Net Margin

17.8%

Good

Strong bottom-line conversion

Current Ratio

3.33

Comfortable

Healthy short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

0.18

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

47%

Mid-range

Technical Snapshot

RSI (14)

45.7

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹49 Cr	₹42 Cr	₹60 Cr	₹113 Cr	+31.6%
EBITDA	₹11 Cr	₹16 Cr	₹21 Cr	₹34 Cr	+44.5%
EBITDA Margin	22.5%	37.5%	35.7%	29.8%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹6 Cr	₹5 Cr	₹11 Cr	₹20 Cr	+45.7%
EPS	₹5.3	₹4.24	₹8.79	₹13.47	+36.5%
ROE	7.1%	4.9%	5.4%	9.3%	—
ROCE	9.7%	6.7%	6.7%	11.0%	—
Total Debt	₹7 Cr	₹46 Cr	₹80 Cr	₹77 Cr	+126.5%
Free Cash Flow	-₹2 Cr	-₹7 Cr	-₹2 Cr	-₹10 Cr	—

🟢 Revenue has grown at 31.6% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA has grown at 44.5% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA Margin has risen from 22.5% to 29.8% over 3 years (+7.3 pts).

🟢 PAT (Net Profit) has grown at 45.7% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EPS has grown at 36.5% a year over 3 years.

🟢 ROE has risen from 7.1% to 9.3% over 3 years (+2.2 pts).

🟢 ROCE has risen from 9.7% to 11.0% over 3 years (+1.4 pts).

🔴 Total Debt has grown at 126.5% a year over 3 years.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹320 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹110 Cr

Total Debt

₹77 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹1 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

-₹8 Cr

Capex

-₹2 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

0.0%

Insider Holding

75.8%

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
ITC LTD	16.6x	27.4%
HINDUSTAN UNILEVER LTD.	42.5x	21.5%
NESTLE INDIA LIMITED	59.8x	79.9%
BRITANNIA INDUSTRIES LTD	44.1x	51.0%

Recent News

6 general

NTCIND Stock Price and Chart — NSE:NTCIND

TradingView, 17 Aug

NTC Industries Ltd. Key Financial Ratios – Valuation, Profitability & More

Value Research, 30 Aug

NTC Industries seeks shareholder nod for ₹27.5 crore promoter warrant issue

scanx.trade, 03 Aug

Elitecon International Ltd Share Price

Business Today, 16 Oct

NTC Industries Ltd. Shareholding Pattern – Promoters, FIIs & DIIs

Value Research, 30 Aug

Why Cigarette Stocks Are Rising in 2026: Godfrey Phillips, VST And NTC

Univest, 17 Apr

Watch Items

Revenue growth is negative (-20.3%) on the latest reported period — check if this is one-off or a trend.
Cross-check against the company's latest quarterly filing / investor presentation before acting.

DalalBaazaar Thesis

🟢Business QualityStrong14.5/20

🟢Financial HealthStrong13/20

🟢GrowthStrong14.9/20

🟡ProfitabilityModerate7.9/15

🟢ValuationAttractive13/15

🔴RiskHigh4/10

Attractive on both counts

A good business currently available at an undemanding price — the combination this framework exists to look for. The work left is qualitative: whether the advantage the numbers imply is one you can identify and expect to last. 3 high-severity red flags sit above this conclusion and should be read first.

This thesis breaks if

✓Revenue growth stays above 24% a year31.6% CAGR
✓EBITDA margin holds above 28%29.8%
✗Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x2.3x
✗Free cash flow remains positive-₹10 Cr
✓ROCE stays above 8%11.0%