Octavius Plantations Limited

Consumer Defensive — Farm Products · BSE

₹37.06₹0.00 (0.00%)

DalalBaazaar Score

48 / 100

🟡 Moderate

Verdict

CAUTION

Risk

High

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

In simple words: The business is earning a fairly low return on the money invested in it, 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, 6:08 pm

Caution warranted. Multiple fundamental metrics — flagged in red below — point to either valuation stretch, leverage risk, or weakening profitability. This doesn't mean avoid the stock outright, but it does mean the burden of proof is on the growth story to justify the current price.

Understanding the Business

Company site ↗

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

What does this company do?

Octavius Plantations Limited engages in processing and trading agricultural produce in India.

IndustryFarm Products

SectorConsumer Defensive

Annual revenue₹64 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹64 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹1 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹4 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation.

EBITDA margin4.1%

Net margin1.3%

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are HINDUSTAN UNILEVER LTD., ITC LTD, NESTLE INDIA LIMITED, 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%

ITC LTDP/E 16.6x · ROE 27.4%

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%

ROE4.2%

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 +194% while net margin moved -85% 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+194%

Margin effect-85%

DalalBaazaar Score

48/ 100

Moderate

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✗ ROE of 4.2% is weak
✗ ROE has fallen by 7.4 points over the period

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

39/ 100

Weak

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

Valuation

83/ 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

4.5x

3Y Median

13.4x

40 monthly readings · mean 12.5x · range 6.2x–18.0x

Sector Median

43.3x

median of 4 sector peers

🟢Current valuation is approximately 67% below its 3y median of 13.4x. 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 90% below the peer median of 43.3x.

vs. its own history

Cheap

13.4x median over 40 months · -67%

vs. sector peers

Cheap

43.3x median of 4 peers · -90%

vs. generic bands

Cheap

Below 15x

P/E (Trailing)

4.5x

P/B

0.56x

EV/EBITDA

12.0x

PEG

—

Dividend Yield

None

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well2

Valuation below its historical average
At 4.5x the stock trades 67% below its own median of 13.4x.
Consistently profitable
Profitable in every one of the last 4 reported years.

🔴 What Needs Attention6

Margins are compressing
EBITDA margin has slipped from 12.9% to 4.1% over 3 years.
Debt is rising
Total debt is up 1230% over 3 years — worth checking what it funded.
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 11.6% to 4.2% — each rupee of shareholder capital earns less than it did.
Return on capital is falling
ROCE has declined from 15.4% to 11.0% — often a sign of competition or overexpansion.
Receivables growing faster than sales
Receivables are up 440% against revenue growth of 194% — customers are taking longer to pay.

Red Flags

7 items require attention · 5 high · 2 watch

🔴Debt has risen sharplyFinancial
Total debt is up 1230% over 3 years, from ₹2 Cr to ₹20 Cr.
🔴Thin interest coverageFinancial
Operating profit covers interest only 1.8x — little room if earnings dip.
🔴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.
🔴Significant margin compressionFinancial
EBITDA margin has fallen 8.9 points, from 12.9% to 4.1%.
🔴Receivables growing faster than salesFinancial
Receivables up 440% against revenue up 194% — sales are being booked faster than they are collected.
🟡Interest coverage is deterioratingFinancial
Cover has fallen from 5.2x to 1.8x.
🟡Profit is decliningFinancial
Net profit is down 56% over 3 years.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Priced below its own history
The stock trades 67% 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.
Cheaper than its peers
It trades 90% 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 12.9% to 4.1%. 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 7.8x EBITDA. At that level a downturn in earnings turns a manageable balance sheet into a refinancing problem, and lenders get paid before shareholders.
Sales are being booked faster than collected
Receivables are up 440% against revenue up 194%. 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 11.6% to 4.2%. 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.

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

1Revenue growth stays above 32% a year✓ 43.2% CAGR
Latest reported year was 132.0%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.
2EBITDA margin holds above 2%✓ 4.1%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
3Debt / EBITDA falls below 3x✗ 7.8x
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✗ -₹11 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
5Interest cover stays above 3x✗ 1.8x
How much operating profit can fall before interest stops being comfortably covered.

Investment Checklist

4 / 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 · 4 neutral · 3 weak

Market Cap

₹11 Cr

Micro Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

4.5x

Cheap

Cheap against the generic band

P/B Ratio

0.56x

Reasonable

Reasonable against the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹8.27

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

4.2%

Weak

Weak capital efficiency

ROCE

11.0%

Moderate

Moderate return on the capital in the business

Debt/Equity

1.02x

Moderate

Moderate leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

132.0%

Healthy

Healthy top-line growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

-55.3%

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

-₹11 Cr

Cash burning

Spending more cash than the operations bring in

More Metrics

CMP

₹37.06

Operating Margin

4.4%

Weak

Thin margins leave little room for error

Net Margin

0.9%

Weak

Very little revenue reaches the bottom line

Current Ratio

1.58

Comfortable

Healthy short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

0.38

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

Near low

Near its 52-week low

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

41.3 / 44.3

Bearish alignment (short < long)

Price vs SMA 200

Below

Long-term downtrend

RSI (14)

0.0

Oversold zone

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹22 Cr	₹24 Cr	₹28 Cr	₹64 Cr	+43.2%
EBITDA	₹3 Cr	₹2 Cr	₹1 Cr	₹3 Cr	-2.7%
EBITDA Margin	12.9%	8.8%	4.3%	4.1%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹2 Cr	₹2 Cr	₹1 Cr	₹1 Cr	-24.2%
EPS	₹6.31	₹5.94	₹2.9	₹2.75	-24.2%
ROE	11.6%	9.8%	4.6%	4.2%	—
ROCE	15.4%	11.5%	5.9%	11.0%	—
Total Debt	₹2 Cr	₹2 Cr	₹8 Cr	₹20 Cr	+136.9%
Free Cash Flow	₹2 Cr	-₹2 Cr	-₹6 Cr	-₹11 Cr	—

🟢 Revenue has grown at 43.2% a year over 3 years.

🔴 EBITDA has shrunk at 2.7% a year over 3 years.

🔴 EBITDA Margin has fallen from 12.9% to 4.1% over 3 years (-8.9 pts).

🔴 PAT (Net Profit) has shrunk at 24.2% a year over 3 years.

🔴 EPS has shrunk at 24.2% a year over 3 years.

🔴 ROE has fallen from 11.6% to 4.2% over 3 years (-7.4 pts).

🔴 ROCE has fallen from 15.4% to 11.0% over 3 years (-4.5 pts).

🔴 Total Debt has grown at 136.9% a year over 3 years.

🔴 Free Cash Flow has turned negative, from ₹2 Cr to -₹11 Cr.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹45 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹25 Cr

Total Debt

₹20 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹0 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

₹2 Cr

Capex

-₹13 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

0.0%

Insider Holding

79.4%

Peer Comparison

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

Recent News

1 positive1 mixed4 general

Octavius Plantations adopts FY26 financials at 42nd AGM

scanx.trade, 08 Oct

Octavius Plantations Ltd (BSE:OCTAVIUSPL): What to Know About Its Bu

Kalkine India, 14 Sept

Octavius Plantations closes trading window ahead of Q2FY27 results

scanx.trade, 03 OctResults

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

Octavius Plantations (BSE: 542938) — Agriculture and Milling Sector Overview

Kalkine India, 16 Sept

Stocks to Watch Today: Amagi Media Labs, Manipal Health, Saatvik Green Energy, RailTel Corp, Kfin...

Moneycontrol.com, 21 Aug

Shringar House of Mangalsutra standalone net profit rises 19.26% in the June 2026 quarter

Business Standard, 13 AugResults

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

Watch Items

Trading very close to its 52-week low — worth checking whether this reflects a temporary setback or a structural problem.
Cross-check against the company's latest quarterly filing / investor presentation before acting.
RSI is in oversold territory — could mean either a bargain or a stock still falling for good reason. Check the 'why' before assuming reversal.

DalalBaazaar Thesis

🔴Business QualityWeak7.5/20

🔴Financial HealthStretched8/20

🟡GrowthModest9.3/20

🔴ProfitabilityWeak4.6/15

🟢ValuationAttractive13.2/15

🟡RiskModerate5.4/10

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

This thesis breaks if

✓Revenue growth stays above 32% a year43.2% CAGR
✓EBITDA margin holds above 2%4.1%
✗Debt / EBITDA falls below 3x7.8x
✗Free cash flow remains positive-₹11 Cr
✗Interest cover stays above 3x1.8x