Orient Cement Limited

Basic Materials — Building Materials · NSE

₹114.70+₹2.19 (+1.95%)

DalalBaazaar Score

63 / 100

🟢 Good

Verdict

NEUTRAL

Risk

Very High

Driven by high debt relative to equity, negative free cash flow, micro-cap size, which brings thin liquidity.

In simple words: Strong business and financial position, but sales are shrinking. Debt is 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 Orient Cement Limited — what it does, how it earns, and who it competes with, before any of the numbers below.

What does this company do?

Orient Cement Limited manufactures and sells cement in India. The company offers pozzolana and ordinary Portland cement under the Birla A1 Premium Cement, Birla A1 StrongCrete, Birla A1 OrientGreen, and Birla A1 Dolphin brand names.

IndustryBuilding Materials

SectorBasic Materials

Employees1,070

Annual revenue₹2,792 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹2,792 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹12 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹20 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 1,070 employees supports ₹2.61 Cr of revenue a year, the signature of a capital- or asset-led business.

Revenue / employee₹2.61 Cr

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are ULTRATECH CEMENT LIMITED, GRASIM INDUSTRIES LTD, AMBUJA CEMENTS LTD, SHREE CEMENT 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 13.3% 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 ROE7.4%

What is the outlook?

2 analysts covering the stock expect revenue to grow about 7.4% and earnings to grow about 20.8% in the year to 2028. These are estimates by people who follow the company, not a forecast for the wider industry.

Est. revenue growth+7.4%

Est. earnings growth+20.8%

Analysts2

What has been driving growth?

Profit has moved mainly because margins changed, not because the business sold much more. Over 3 years revenue moved -5% while net margin moved +189% 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-5%

Margin effect+189%

DalalBaazaar Score

63/ 100

Good

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✓ Beta of 0.11 — historically steadier than the index
✗ Micro 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
✗ Negative free cash flow means dependence on external funding

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

61/ 100

Average

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

Valuation

88/ 100

Cheap

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

11.2x

3Y Median

37.0x

40 monthly readings · mean 34.9x · range 7.0x–58.3x

Sector Median

36.2x

median of 4 sector peers

🟢Current valuation is approximately 70% below its 3y median of 37.0x. 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 69% below the peer median of 36.2x.

vs. its own history

Cheap

37.0x median over 40 months · -70%

vs. sector peers

Cheap

36.2x median of 4 peers · -69%

vs. generic bands

Cheap

Below 15x

EV/EBITDA

4.3x

PEG

0.28

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well5

Margins are improving
EBITDA margin is up from 12.7% to 20.3% over 3 years.
Debt is being paid down
Total debt is down 82% over 3 years.
Return on equity is rising
ROE has improved from 7.7% to 15.7%.
Return on capital is rising
ROCE has improved from 11.1% to 13.3%.
Consistently profitable
Profitable in every one of the last 4 reported years.

🔴 What Needs Attention0

Nothing stands out as clearly deteriorating on the years of data available.

Red Flags

4 items require attention · 3 high · 1 watch

🔴High leverageFinancial
Debt/Equity of 3.38x — 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.
🔴Receivables growing faster than salesFinancial
Receivables up 397% against revenue up -5% — sales are being booked faster than they are collected.
🟡Free cash flow is negativeFinancial
Free cash flow was -₹70 Cr in the latest year.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Margin expansion has further to run
EBITDA margin has risen from 12.7% to 20.3%. If that holds, profit compounds faster than sales and today's multiple looks cheaper in hindsight than it does now.
Deleveraging frees up earnings
Debt is down 82% over 3 years. Every rupee of interest not paid drops to the bottom line, so profit can grow even if revenue does not.
Priced below its own history
The stock trades 70% 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 69% 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?

Leverage amplifies any setback
Debt/Equity of 3.38x. Interest is payable whether or not the business has a good year.
Sales are being booked faster than collected
Receivables are up 397% against revenue up -5%. If customers keep taking longer to pay, reported profit will not turn into cash — and write-offs follow if some never do.
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

1EBITDA margin holds above 18%✓ 20.3%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
2Free cash flow remains positive✗ -₹70 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
3Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x✓ 0.1x
The ratio lenders write covenants against; it survives a small or negative equity base, unlike Debt/Equity.
4ROCE stays above 10%✓ 13.3%
Falling returns on capital are usually competition arriving, and show up here before they reach the margin.
5Valuation vs its own median of 37.0x✓ 11.2x today
A re-rating above its own history needs a reason; without one it is just a higher price.

Investment Checklist

5 / 12 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
✓ Analyst consensus isn't majority-sell
✗ Short-term technical trend isn't bearish

Price history

Quick Metrics

4 good · 3 neutral · 4 weak

Market Cap

₹2,357 Cr

Micro Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

11.2x

Cheap

Cheap against the generic band

P/B Ratio

1.10x

Reasonable

Reasonable against the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹10.2

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

15.7%

Strong

Strong capital efficiency

ROCE

13.3%

Moderate

Moderate return on the capital in the business

Debt/Equity

3.38x

High

High leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

-30.3%

Shrinking

Sales are contracting

Profit Growth (YoY)

-62.4%

Falling

Profits are shrinking

Dividend Yield

0.44%

Modest

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

Free Cash Flow

-₹70 Cr

Cash burning

Spending more cash than the operations bring in

More Metrics

P/E (Forward)

10.7x

Improving

Below the trailing multiple — the street expects earnings to grow into the price

Operating Margin

16.7%

Good

Healthy core-business profitability

Net Margin

8.3%

Average

Average bottom-line conversion

Current Ratio

1.95

Comfortable

Healthy short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

0.11

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

Near low

Near its 52-week low

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

117.2 / 124.8

Bearish alignment (short < long)

Price vs SMA 200

Below

Long-term downtrend

RSI (14)

32.0

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹2,934 Cr	₹3,177 Cr	₹2,704 Cr	₹2,792 Cr	-1.6%
EBITDA	₹372 Cr	₹464 Cr	₹320 Cr	₹568 Cr	+15.1%
EBITDA Margin	12.7%	14.6%	11.8%	20.3%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹123 Cr	₹175 Cr	₹91 Cr	₹338 Cr	+40.1%
EPS	₹5.99	₹8.53	₹4.45	₹16.44	+40.0%
ROE	7.7%	10.0%	5.0%	15.7%	—
ROCE	11.1%	13.9%	7.3%	13.3%	—
Total Debt	₹398 Cr	₹170 Cr	₹70 Cr	₹72 Cr	-43.3%
Free Cash Flow	-₹19 Cr	₹347 Cr	₹146 Cr	-₹70 Cr	—

🟡 Revenue has been broadly flat over 3 years (-1.6% a year).

🟢 EBITDA has grown at 15.1% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA Margin has risen from 12.7% to 20.3% over 3 years (+7.6 pts).

🟢 PAT (Net Profit) has grown at 40.1% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EPS has grown at 40.0% a year over 3 years.

🟢 ROE has risen from 7.7% to 15.7% over 3 years (+8.1 pts).

🟢 ROCE has risen from 11.1% to 13.3% over 3 years (+2.2 pts).

🟢 Total Debt has shrunk at 43.3% a year over 3 years.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹3,133 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹988 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹16 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

-₹39 Cr

Capex

-₹32 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

1.9%

Insider Holding

74.4%

Corporate Actions

Dividend Rate

₹0.5

Ex-Dividend Date

12 Jun 2026

Analyst Consensus

Recommendations

1 Buy · 1 Hold · 0 Sell

Target Price (Mean)

₹168

+46.5% vs CMP

Target Range

₹156 – ₹180

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
ULTRATECH CEMENT LIMITED	37.6x	11.1%
GRASIM INDUSTRIES LTD	34.8x	5.5%
AMBUJA CEMENTS LTD	20.4x	7.4%
SHREE CEMENT LIMITED	49.7x	7.0%

Recent News

1 positive1 mixed1 negative3 general

Orient Cement Q1FY26 profit drops 62% to ₹77 crore; margin rises

scanx.trade, 15 OctResults

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

Orient Cement Share Price at 52-week trough, market view

Univest, 07 Oct

Orient Cement (ORIENTCEM) Share/Stock Price Live, NSE

TechGraph, 09 Oct

Orient Cement Q1 Profit Declines 62.4 PC, Revenue Slides to Rs 604 Cr

HDFC Sky, 24 JulResults

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

Ambuja Cements (NSEI:AMBUJACEM) Stock Forecast & Analyst Predictions

Simply Wall Street, 14 OctAnalyst view

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

Ramco Cement, ACC, Orient Cement, Ambuja Cement: Here is how cement stocks are performing on Aug 27

Upstox, 27 Aug

Watch Items

Revenue growth is negative (-30.3%) on the latest reported period — check if this is one-off or a trend.
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.

DalalBaazaar Thesis

StrongBusiness Quality · Profitability · Valuation

MiddlingFinancial Health · Growth

WeakRisk

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.

1 of 5 tripwires tripped — Free cash flow remains positive · see Key things to watch ↑