Paramount Cosmetics (India) Limited

Consumer Defensive — Household & Personal Products · BSE

₹39.99+₹0.08 (+0.20%)

DalalBaazaar Score

49 / 100

🟡 Moderate

Verdict

NEUTRAL

Risk

Low

Driven by micro-cap size, which brings thin liquidity.

In simple words: The business is earning a fairly low return on the money invested in it, but sales are shrinking. Whether sales start growing again is 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 Paramount Cosmetics (India) Limited — what it does, how it earns, and who it competes with, before any of the numbers below.

What does this company do?

Paramount Cosmetics (India) Limited engages in the manufacture and marketing of cosmetic products for women in India. The company offers color cosmetics, such as sticker bindis, kumkum, sindoor, and kajal under the SHILPA brand.

IndustryHousehold & Personal Products

SectorConsumer Defensive

Employees26

Annual revenue₹21 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹21 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹0 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹13 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 26 employees supports ₹82.3 lakh of revenue a year, the signature of a people-led business.

EBITDA margin12.8%

Net margin0.2%

Revenue / employee₹82.3 lakh

Who are its competitors?

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

DABUR INDIA LTDP/E 34.7x · ROE 17.2%

ITC LTDP/E 16.6x · ROE 27.4%

BRITANNIA INDUSTRIES LTDP/E 44.1x · ROE 51.0%

What is its competitive advantage?Little sign of one

Returns on capital of 8.7% 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.

ROCE8.7%

ROE0.2%

Peer median ROE27.4%

What has been driving growth?

Profit has moved mainly because margins changed, not because the business sold much more. Over 3 years revenue moved -20% while net margin moved -70% 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-20%

Margin effect-70%

DalalBaazaar Score

49/ 100

Moderate

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✗ Revenue has contracted at 7.1% a year
✗ Profit has declined at 37.7% a year
✗ Latest-year revenue growth of -28.1% is below the longer-term trend — momentum is fading

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

43/ 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

22.0x

3Y Median

600.0x

40 monthly readings · mean 578.5x · range 80.3x–1335.0x

Sector Median

38.6x

median of 4 sector peers

🟢Current valuation is approximately 96% below its 3y median of 600.0x. 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 43% below the peer median of 38.6x.

vs. its own history

Cheap

600.0x median over 40 months · -96%

vs. sector peers

Cheap

38.6x median of 4 peers · -43%

vs. generic bands

Fair

15x–35x

P/E (Trailing)

22.0x

P/B

0.91x

EV/EBITDA

7.9x

PEG

—

Dividend Yield

None

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well6

Margins are improving
EBITDA margin is up from 10.4% to 12.8% over 3 years.
Debt is being paid down
Total debt is down 81% over 3 years.
Cash generation is improving
Free cash flow is up 202% over 3 years.
Valuation below its historical average
At 22.0x the stock trades 96% below its own median of 600.0x.
Very low debt
Debt/Equity of 0.12x leaves the balance sheet with plenty of headroom.
Consistently profitable
Profitable in every one of the last 4 reported years.

🔴 What Needs Attention1

Inventory building faster than sales
Inventory is up 42% against revenue growth of -20% — stock may not be moving.

Red Flags

3 items require attention · 2 high · 1 watch

🔴Thin interest coverageFinancial
Operating profit covers interest only 1.2x — little room if earnings dip.
🔴Inventory building faster than salesFinancial
Inventory up 42% against revenue up -20% — stock may not be moving.
🟡Profit is decliningFinancial
Net profit is down 76% over 3 years.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Margin expansion has further to run
EBITDA margin has risen from 10.4% to 12.8%. 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 81% 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 96% 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 43% 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 ₹11 Cr alongside low debt means growth, buybacks or dividends need no outside money — and a downturn can be absorbed rather than refinanced.

🔴 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
2 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 11%✓ 12.8%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
2Interest cover stays above 3x✗ 1.2x
How much operating profit can fall before interest stops being comfortably covered.
3Free cash flow remains positive✓ ₹11 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
4Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x✓ 0.9x
The ratio lenders write covenants against; it survives a small or negative equity base, unlike Debt/Equity.
5ROCE stays above 8%✓ 8.7%
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

5 good · 4 neutral · 2 weak

Market Cap

₹19 Cr

Micro Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

22.0x

Fair

Fairly valued against the generic band

P/B Ratio

0.91x

Reasonable

Reasonable against the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹1.82

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

0.2%

Weak

Weak capital efficiency

ROCE

8.7%

Moderate

Moderate return on the capital in the business

Debt/Equity

0.12x

Low

Conservative leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

-28.1%

Shrinking

Sales are contracting

Profit Growth (YoY)

70.7%

Healthy

Profits growing at a healthy clip

Dividend Yield

None

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

Free Cash Flow

₹11 Cr

Cash generative

Generates cash even after funding its capex

More Metrics

CMP

₹39.99

Operating Margin

4.5%

Weak

Thin margins leave little room for error

Net Margin

1.2%

Weak

Very little revenue reaches the bottom line

Current Ratio

2.02

Comfortable

Healthy short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

-0.66

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

70%

Mid-range

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

37.4 / 38.1

Bearish alignment (short < long)

Price vs SMA 200

Above

Long-term uptrend

RSI (14)

55.6

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹27 Cr	₹22 Cr	₹20 Cr	₹21 Cr	-7.1%
EBITDA	₹3 Cr	₹1 Cr	₹2 Cr	₹3 Cr	-0.4%
EBITDA Margin	10.4%	6.5%	10.7%	12.8%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹0 Cr	₹0 Cr	₹0 Cr	₹0 Cr	-37.7%
EPS	₹0.44	₹0.04	₹0.06	₹0.11	-37.0%
ROE	1.0%	0.1%	0.1%	0.2%	—
ROCE	7.0%	6.8%	6.4%	8.7%	—
Total Debt	₹13 Cr	₹12 Cr	₹11 Cr	₹2 Cr	-42.5%
Free Cash Flow	₹4 Cr	-₹0 Cr	₹1 Cr	₹11 Cr	+44.5%

🔴 Revenue has shrunk at 7.1% a year over 3 years.

🟡 EBITDA has been broadly flat over 3 years (-0.4% a year).

🟢 EBITDA Margin has risen from 10.4% to 12.8% over 3 years (+2.4 pts).

🔴 PAT (Net Profit) has shrunk at 37.7% a year over 3 years.

🔴 EPS has shrunk at 37.0% a year over 3 years.

🟡 ROE has held roughly flat at 0.2% over 3 years.

🟢 ROCE has risen from 7.0% to 8.7% over 3 years (+1.7 pts).

🟢 Total Debt has shrunk at 42.5% a year over 3 years.

🟢 Free Cash Flow has grown at 44.5% a year over 3 years.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹35 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹15 Cr

Total Debt

₹2 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹0 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

₹11 Cr

Capex

-₹0 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

0.0%

Insider Holding

83.6%

Corporate Actions

Ex-Dividend Date

21 Sept 2017

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
HINDUSTAN UNILEVER LTD.	42.5x	21.5%
DABUR INDIA LTD	34.7x	17.2%
ITC LTD	16.6x	27.4%
BRITANNIA INDUSTRIES LTD	44.1x	51.0%

Recent News

1 mixed5 general

Paramount Cosmetics board to decide on QIP or rights issue

scanx.trade, 07 Oct

Paramount Cosmetics (India) Ltd. Financials – Balance Sheet, Profit & Loss, Cash Flow

Value Research, 29 Aug

Paramount Cosmetics (India) reports standalone net profit of Rs 0.12 crore in the June 2026 quarter

Business Standard, 12 AugResults

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

Paramount Cosmetics EGM on Oct 29 to approve ~8x capital hike

scanx.trade, 28 Sept

PESHWA WHEAT LTD. Stock/Share price , NSE/BSE Forecast News and Live Quotes

Equitymaster, 03 Oct

PARAMOUNT COSMETICS (INDIA) LT Share Price

Upstox, 04 Apr

Watch Items

Revenue growth is negative (-28.1%) 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 QualityAdequate9/20

🟢Financial HealthStrong14.7/20

🔴GrowthWeak4.1/20

🔴ProfitabilityWeak4.5/15

🟢ValuationAttractive12/15

🔴RiskHigh4.4/10

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

This thesis breaks if

✓EBITDA margin holds above 11%12.8%
✗Interest cover stays above 3x1.2x
✓Free cash flow remains positive₹11 Cr
✓Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x0.9x
✓ROCE stays above 8%8.7%