Plastiblends India Limited

Basic Materials — Specialty Chemicals · NSE

₹178.95−₹0.25 (−0.14%)

DalalBaazaar Score

54 / 100

🟡 Moderate

Verdict

NEUTRAL

Risk

High

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

In simple words: Reasonable but unspectacular business quality, with both sales and profits growing well. Debt is the main factor to watch.

Decision support, not a buy or sell call.

As of 18 Oct 2026, 6:09 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 Plastiblends India Limited — what it does, how it earns, and who it competes with, before any of the numbers below.

What does this company do?

Plastiblends India Limited engages in the manufacture and sale of masterbatches in India and internationally. The company offers additive, black, color, filler, polyester, and white masterbatches, as well as conductive and engineered plastic compounds.

IndustrySpecialty Chemicals

SectorBasic Materials

Employees496

Annual revenue₹788 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹788 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹5 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹8 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 496 employees supports ₹1.59 Cr of revenue a year, the signature of a capital- or asset-led business.

EBITDA margin8.0%

Net margin4.7%

Revenue / employee₹1.59 Cr

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are ASIAN PAINTS LIMITED, PIDILITE INDUSTRIES LTD, SRF LTD, UPL LIMITED. These are the companies its valuation and returns are measured against elsewhere in this report.

ASIAN PAINTS LIMITEDP/E 46.9x · ROE 22.3%

PIDILITE INDUSTRIES LTDP/E 57.8x · ROE 24.4%

SRF LTDP/E 33.8x · ROE 15.4%

UPL LIMITEDP/E 21.5x · ROE 6.1%

What is its competitive advantage?Little sign of one

Returns on capital of 10.7% 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.

ROCE10.7%

ROE9.7%

Peer median ROE22.3%

What has been driving growth?

Profit has moved mainly because margins changed, not because the business sold much more. Over 3 years revenue moved +3% while net margin moved +33% 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+3%

Margin effect+33%

DalalBaazaar Score

54/ 100

Moderate

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✗ ROE of 9.7% is weak

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

48/ 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

10.1x

3Y Median

15.9x

40 monthly readings · mean 18.4x · range 9.4x–30.7x

Sector Median

40.4x

median of 4 sector peers

🟢Current valuation is approximately 37% below its 3y median of 15.9x. 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 75% below the peer median of 40.4x.

vs. its own history

Cheap

15.9x median over 40 months · -37%

vs. sector peers

Cheap

40.4x median of 4 peers · -75%

vs. generic bands

Cheap

Below 15x

P/E (Trailing)

10.1x

P/B

0.91x

EV/EBITDA

7.7x

PEG

0.92

Dividend Yield

1.68%

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well2

Valuation below its historical average
At 10.1x the stock trades 37% below its own median of 15.9x.
Consistently profitable
Profitable in every one of the last 4 reported years.

🔴 What Needs Attention3

Debt is rising
Total debt is up 156% over 3 years — worth checking what it funded.
Free cash flow is negative
The business is not currently covering its capital spending from operations.
Receivables growing faster than sales
Receivables are up 42% against revenue growth of 3% — customers are taking longer to pay.

Red Flags

4 items require attention · 2 high · 2 watch

🔴Debt has risen sharplyFinancial
Total debt is up 156% over 3 years, from ₹9 Cr to ₹22 Cr.
🔴High leverageFinancial
Debt/Equity of 3.32x — earnings must service borrowings before shareholders see anything.
🟡Free cash flow is negativeFinancial
Free cash flow was -₹7 Cr in the latest year.
🟡Receivables growing faster than salesFinancial
Receivables up 42% against revenue up 3% — sales are being booked faster than they are collected.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Priced below its own history
The stock trades 37% 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 75% 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 3.32x. Interest is payable whether or not the business has a good year.
Sales are being booked faster than collected
Receivables are up 42% against revenue up 3%. If customers keep taking longer to pay, reported profit will not turn into cash — and write-offs follow if some never do.
Growth barely outpaces inflation
Revenue compounding at 0.9% 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.
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 6%✓ 8.0%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
2Free cash flow remains positive✗ -₹7 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
3Revenue growth stays above 4% a year✗ 0.9% CAGR
Latest reported year was 18.8%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.
4Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x✓ 0.4x
The ratio lenders write covenants against; it survives a small or negative equity base, unlike Debt/Equity.
5ROCE stays above 8%✓ 10.7%
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

₹465 Cr

Micro Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

10.1x

Cheap

Cheap against the generic band

P/B Ratio

0.91x

Reasonable

Reasonable against the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹17.75

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

9.7%

Moderate

Moderate capital efficiency

ROCE

10.7%

Moderate

Moderate return on the capital in the business

Debt/Equity

3.32x

High

High leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

18.8%

Healthy

Healthy top-line growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

43.4%

Healthy

Profits growing at a healthy clip

Dividend Yield

1.68%

Modest

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

Free Cash Flow

-₹13 Cr

Cash burning

Spending more cash than the operations bring in

More Metrics

CMP

₹178.95

ROA

6.1%

Average

Average asset productivity

Operating Margin

5.4%

Average

Average margins

Net Margin

5.4%

Average

Average bottom-line conversion

Current Ratio

4.37

Comfortable

Healthy short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

0.36

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

61%

Mid-range

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

193.9 / 192.3

Bullish alignment (short > long)

Price vs SMA 200

Above

Long-term uptrend

RSI (14)

32.0

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹767 Cr	₹802 Cr	₹780 Cr	₹788 Cr	+0.9%
EBITDA	₹54 Cr	₹63 Cr	₹59 Cr	₹63 Cr	+5.2%
EBITDA Margin	7.1%	7.8%	7.5%	8.0%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹27 Cr	₹35 Cr	₹33 Cr	₹37 Cr	+11.0%
EPS	₹10.33	₹13.28	₹12.87	₹14.12	+11.0%
ROE	6.8%	8.5%	7.8%	8.2%	—
ROCE	9.0%	10.9%	10.1%	10.7%	—
Total Debt	₹9 Cr	₹8 Cr	₹5 Cr	₹22 Cr	+36.8%
Free Cash Flow	₹64 Cr	₹26 Cr	-₹3 Cr	-₹7 Cr	—

🟡 Revenue has been broadly flat over 3 years (0.9% a year).

🟢 EBITDA has grown at 5.2% a year over 3 years.

🟡 EBITDA Margin has held roughly flat at 8.0% over 3 years.

🟢 PAT (Net Profit) has grown at 11.0% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EPS has grown at 11.0% a year over 3 years.

🟢 ROE has risen from 6.8% to 8.2% over 3 years (+1.4 pts).

🟢 ROCE has risen from 9.0% to 10.7% over 3 years (+1.8 pts).

🔴 Total Debt has grown at 36.8% a year over 3 years.

🔴 Free Cash Flow has turned negative, from ₹64 Cr to -₹7 Cr.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹558 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹109 Cr

Total Debt

₹22 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹5 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

₹21 Cr

Capex

-₹28 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

0.0%

Insider Holding

66.5%

Corporate Actions

Dividend Rate

₹3

Ex-Dividend Date

17 Aug 2026

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
ASIAN PAINTS LIMITED	46.9x	22.3%
PIDILITE INDUSTRIES LTD	57.8x	24.4%
SRF LTD	33.8x	15.4%
UPL LIMITED	21.5x	6.1%

Recent News

3 positive3 general

Plastiblends India Share Price at Rs 188.55 After Slide

Univest, 13 Oct

Should You Be Adding Plastiblends India (NSE:PLASTIBLEN) To Your Watchlist Today?

Simply Wall Street, 26 May

Plastiblends India Q2 profit rises 43 per cent as realisations lift margins, despite cost pressures

Dalal Street Investment Journal, 13 OctResults

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

Plastiblends Q2FY27 Results: Net profit rises 43% YoY to ₹1,065 lakh

scanx.trade, 12 OctResults

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

Stocks to Watch Today: HCL Technologies, RBL Bank, Bank of India, Plastiblends, Ircon International,...

Moneycontrol.com, 13 Oct

Plastiblends India Q2 Profit Jumps 43% to Rs 10.65 Crore

Whalesbook, 12 OctResults

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

Watch Items

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

DalalBaazaar Thesis

🟡Business QualityAdequate9/20

🟡Financial HealthAdequate9.9/20

🟡GrowthModest10.4/20

🔴ProfitabilityWeak6.2/15

🟢ValuationAttractive13.2/15

🟡RiskModerate4.8/10

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

This thesis breaks if

✓EBITDA margin holds above 6%8.0%
✗Free cash flow remains positive-₹7 Cr
✗Revenue growth stays above 4% a year0.9% CAGR
✓Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x0.4x
✓ROCE stays above 8%10.7%