POCL Enterprises Limited

Basic Materials — Chemicals · NSE

₹129.45+₹0.46 (+0.36%)

DalalBaazaar Score

68 / 100

🟢 Good

Verdict

REASONABLE

Risk

Moderate

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

In simple words: Strong business and financial position, though profits are falling even as sales grow. The direction of profits 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 POCL Enterprises Limited — what it does, how it earns, and who it competes with, before any of the numbers below.

What does this company do?

POCL Enterprises Limited, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacturing and trading of various metals, chemicals, and its oxides in India and internationally. It operates through Metal, Metallic Oxides, Plastic Additives, and Others segments.

IndustryChemicals

SectorBasic Materials

Employees581

Annual revenue₹1,426 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹1,426 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹3 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹5 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 581 employees supports ₹2.45 Cr of revenue a year, the signature of a capital- or asset-led business.

EBITDA margin5.4%

Net margin2.9%

Revenue / employee₹2.45 Cr

Who are its competitors?

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

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?The numbers suggest a real one

ROCE has stayed above 15% in every year available and stands at 33.7%. Returns that high normally get competed away; when they persist, something is protecting them, and its ROE of 21.3% against a peer median of 15.4% is consistent with that. What that something is — brand, scale, switching costs, regulation — the accounts cannot tell you.

ROCE33.7%

ROE21.3%

Peer median ROE15.4%

What has been driving growth?

Profit has moved mainly because margins changed, not because the business sold much more. Over 3 years revenue moved +63% while net margin moved +97% 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+63%

Margin effect+97%

DalalBaazaar Score

68/ 100

Good

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✓ ROCE of 33.7% is above 20% — the business earns a high return on the capital it employs
✗ ROCE has fallen by 8.1 points — returns are eroding
✗ EBITDA margin of 5.4% is thin — little cushion if costs rise
✗ Net margin of 2.4% is slim
• Revenue has compounded at 17.7% a year, which is the base these returns are earned on

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

68/ 100

Good

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

Valuation

85/ 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

10.8x

Sector Median

33.8x

median of 3 sector peers

🟢Against its sector it trades 68% below the peer median of 33.8x.

vs. its own history

Not enough price and earnings history

vs. sector peers

Cheap

33.8x median of 3 peers · -68%

vs. generic bands

Cheap

Below 15x

P/E (Trailing)

10.8x

P/B

2.00x

EV/EBITDA

6.8x

PEG

0.23

Dividend Yield

None

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well4

Margins are improving
EBITDA margin is up from 3.4% to 5.4% over 3 years.
Cash generation is improving
Free cash flow is up 238% over 3 years.
High return on capital employed
ROCE of 33.7% is the mark of a business that converts capital into profit efficiently.
Consistently profitable
Profitable in every one of the last 4 reported years.

🔴 What Needs Attention3

Debt is rising
Total debt is up 49% over 3 years — worth checking what it funded.
Return on equity is falling
ROE has dropped from 25.0% to 21.3% — each rupee of shareholder capital earns less than it did.
Return on capital is falling
ROCE has declined from 41.8% to 33.7% — often a sign of competition or overexpansion.

Red Flags

2 items require attention · 1 high · 1 watch

🔴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.
🟡Debt is increasingFinancial
Total debt is up 49% over 3 years.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Capital compounds at a high rate
ROCE of 33.7% means each rupee reinvested earns well above what capital costs. If the company can keep deploying at this rate, growth creates value rather than just consuming cash.
Margin expansion has further to run
EBITDA margin has risen from 3.4% to 5.4%. 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 68% 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?

Returns on shareholder capital are falling
ROE has dropped from 25.0% to 21.3%. 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 13% a year✓ 17.7% CAGR
Latest reported year was 25.1%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.
2EBITDA margin holds above 3%✓ 5.4%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
3Free cash flow remains positive✓ ₹18 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
4Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x✓ 1.8x
The ratio lenders write covenants against; it survives a small or negative equity base, unlike Debt/Equity.
5ROCE stays above 31%✓ 33.7%
Falling returns on capital are usually competition arriving, and show up here before they reach the margin.

Investment Checklist

8 / 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

6 good · 4 neutral · 1 weak

Market Cap

₹399 Cr

Micro Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

10.8x

Cheap

Cheap against the generic band

P/B Ratio

2.00x

Fair

Moderate premium to the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹11.96

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

21.3%

Strong

Strong capital efficiency

ROCE

33.7%

Strong

Earns comfortably above its likely cost of capital

Debt/Equity

0.69x

Moderate

Moderate leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

25.1%

Healthy

Healthy top-line growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

-52.0%

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

₹18 Cr

Cash generative

Generates cash even after funding its capex

More Metrics

CMP

₹129.45

Operating Margin

2.2%

Weak

Thin margins leave little room for error

Net Margin

2.4%

Weak

Very little revenue reaches the bottom line

Current Ratio

1.87

Comfortable

Healthy short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

0.10

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

13%

Near low

Near its 52-week low

Technical Snapshot

RSI (14)

29.0

Oversold zone

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹874 Cr	₹1,120 Cr	₹1,449 Cr	₹1,426 Cr	+17.7%
EBITDA	₹30 Cr	₹40 Cr	₹67 Cr	₹77 Cr	+37.0%
EBITDA Margin	3.4%	3.6%	4.6%	5.4%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹13 Cr	₹18 Cr	₹31 Cr	₹41 Cr	+47.6%
EPS	₹4.62	₹6.36	₹11.18	₹13.48	+42.9%
ROE	25.0%	26.0%	31.8%	21.3%	—
ROCE	41.8%	47.5%	55.1%	33.7%	—
Total Debt	₹90 Cr	₹105 Cr	₹107 Cr	₹134 Cr	+14.2%
Free Cash Flow	₹5 Cr	-₹1 Cr	₹27 Cr	₹18 Cr	+50.0%

🟢 Revenue has grown at 17.7% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA has grown at 37.0% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA Margin has risen from 3.4% to 5.4% over 3 years (+2.0 pts).

🟢 PAT (Net Profit) has grown at 47.6% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EPS has grown at 42.9% a year over 3 years.

🔴 ROE has fallen from 25.0% to 21.3% over 3 years (-3.7 pts).

🔴 ROCE has fallen from 41.8% to 33.7% over 3 years (-8.1 pts).

🔴 Total Debt has grown at 14.2% a year over 3 years.

🟢 Free Cash Flow has grown at 50.0% a year over 3 years.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹365 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹170 Cr

Total Debt

₹134 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹16 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

₹26 Cr

Capex

-₹9 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

0.0%

Insider Holding

51.1%

Peer Comparison

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

Recent News

1 positive1 mixed4 general

NCLT directs POCL Enterprises to hold shareholder meet for Planetfirst merger

scanx.trade, 15 OctM&A

🟡Mixed / dependsAcquisitions change the balance sheet before they change the earnings. Look at what was paid, how it was funded, and whether debt rose.

POCL Enterprises Ltd is Rated Strong Sell

MarketsMojo, 14 Oct

POEL Stock Price and Chart — NSE:POEL

TradingView, 18 Aug

POCL Enterprises Q4 Margin Rises to 5.21% Despite 10.8% Revenue Drop to ₹330 Cr

Sahi, 25 MayResults

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

POCL Enterprises Ltd

Equitypandit, 17 Aug

POCL Enterprise Standalone March 2026 Net Sales at Rs 332.29 crore, down 10.76% Y-o-Y

Moneycontrol.com, 26 May

Watch Items

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 QualityAdequate9.6/20

🟢Financial HealthStrong15.1/20

🟢GrowthStrong18.5/20

🟡ProfitabilityModerate8.1/15

🟢ValuationAttractive11/15

🟡RiskModerate5.2/10

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. 1 high-severity red flag sits above this conclusion and should be read first.

This thesis breaks if

✓Revenue growth stays above 13% a year17.7% CAGR
✓EBITDA margin holds above 3%5.4%
✓Free cash flow remains positive₹18 Cr
✓Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x1.8x
✓ROCE stays above 31%33.7%