Poona Dal and Oil Industries Limited

Consumer Defensive — Farm Products · BSE

₹59.21+₹2.36 (+4.15%)

DalalBaazaar Score

47 / 100

🟡 Moderate

Verdict

CAUTION

Risk

High

Driven by negative free cash flow, micro-cap size, which brings thin liquidity, falling profits.

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, 6:09 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 Poona Dal and Oil Industries Limited — what it does, how it earns, and who it competes with, before any of the numbers below.

What does this company do?

Poona Dal and Oil Industries Limited engages in the manufacture and trading of edible oils and pulses in India. The company operates in two segments, Oil Division and Agro Division. It offers its products under its HIRA, TIGER, SURAJ, MOTI, and 111 (Triple One) brand names.

IndustryFarm Products

SectorConsumer Defensive

Annual revenue₹141 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹141 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹1 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹2 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation.

EBITDA margin1.8%

Net margin1.1%

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 3.5% 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.

ROCE3.5%

ROE2.5%

Peer median ROE51.0%

What has been driving growth?

Profit has moved mainly because margins changed, not because the business sold much more. Over 3 years revenue moved -24% while net margin moved +68% 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-24%

Margin effect+68%

DalalBaazaar Score

47/ 100

Moderate

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✗ ROE of 2.5% is weak

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

41/ 100

Weak

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

Valuation

73/ 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

24.0x

3Y Median

31.3x

40 monthly readings · mean 35.6x · range 22.8x–63.7x

Sector Median

43.3x

median of 4 sector peers

🟢Current valuation is approximately 23% below its 3y median of 31.3x. 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 45% below the peer median of 43.3x.

vs. its own history

Cheap

31.3x median over 40 months · -23%

vs. sector peers

Cheap

43.3x median of 4 peers · -45%

vs. generic bands

Fair

15x–35x

P/E (Trailing)

24.0x

P/B

0.58x

EV/EBITDA

-0.5x

PEG

2.85

Dividend Yield

None

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well2

Valuation below its historical average
At 24.0x the stock trades 23% below its own median of 31.3x.
Consistently profitable
Profitable in every one of the last 4 reported years.

🔴 What Needs Attention2

Free cash flow is negative
The business is not currently covering its capital spending from operations.
Inventory building faster than sales
Inventory is up 69% against revenue growth of -24% — stock may not be moving.

Red Flags

3 items require attention · 2 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.
🔴Inventory building faster than salesFinancial
Inventory up 69% against revenue up -24% — stock may not be moving.
🟡Free cash flow is negativeFinancial
Free cash flow was -₹6 Cr in the latest year.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Priced below its own history
The stock trades 23% 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 45% 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?

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 0%✓ 1.8%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
2Free cash flow remains positive✗ -₹6 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
3ROCE stays above 8%✗ 3.5%
Falling returns on capital are usually competition arriving, and show up here before they reach the margin.
4Valuation vs its own median of 31.3x✓ 24.0x today
A re-rating above its own history needs a reason; without one it is just a higher price.

Investment Checklist

4 / 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
✓ 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

2 good · 5 neutral · 4 weak

Market Cap

₹34 Cr

Micro Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

24.0x

Fair

Fairly valued against the generic band

P/B Ratio

0.58x

Reasonable

Reasonable against the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹2.47

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

2.5%

Weak

Weak capital efficiency

ROCE

3.5%

Weak

Low return on total capital employed

Debt/Equity

Not available

No data

Source didn't return this field

Revenue Growth (YoY)

1.7%

Modest

Modest growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

-35.3%

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

-₹6 Cr

Cash burning

Spending more cash than the operations bring in

More Metrics

CMP

₹59.21

Operating Margin

0.3%

Weak

Thin margins leave little room for error

Net Margin

1.0%

Weak

Very little revenue reaches the bottom line

Current Ratio

24.73

Comfortable

Healthy short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

0.02

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

11%

Near low

Near its 52-week low

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

58.1 / 60.0

Bearish alignment (short < long)

Price vs SMA 200

Below

Long-term downtrend

RSI (14)

50.5

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹185 Cr	₹98 Cr	₹147 Cr	₹141 Cr	-8.7%
EBITDA	₹2 Cr	₹1 Cr	₹2 Cr	₹2 Cr	+12.0%
EBITDA Margin	1.0%	1.3%	1.4%	1.8%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹1 Cr	₹1 Cr	₹1 Cr	₹1 Cr	+8.4%
EPS	₹2.04	₹1.36	₹2.35	₹2.6	+8.4%
ROE	2.1%	1.4%	2.4%	2.5%	—
ROCE	2.9%	1.9%	3.2%	3.5%	—
Free Cash Flow	₹6 Cr	-₹25 Cr	₹24 Cr	-₹6 Cr	—

🔴 Revenue has shrunk at 8.7% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA has grown at 12.0% a year over 3 years.

🟡 EBITDA Margin has held roughly flat at 1.8% over 3 years.

🟢 PAT (Net Profit) has grown at 8.4% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EPS has grown at 8.4% a year over 3 years.

🟡 ROE has held roughly flat at 2.5% over 3 years.

🟡 ROCE has held roughly flat at 3.5% over 3 years.

🔴 Free Cash Flow has turned negative, from ₹6 Cr to -₹6 Cr.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹60 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹2 Cr

Total Debt

—

Cash & Equivalents

₹35 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

-₹0 Cr

Capex

-₹6 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

0.0%

Insider Holding

75.9%

Corporate Actions

Ex-Dividend Date

19 Sept 2013

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

2 positive4 general

Poona Dal & Oil Industries Ltd. Peer Comparison – Compare with Others

Value Research, 01 Sept

Poona Dal and Oil Industries standalone net profit rises 5.56% in the March 2026 quarter

Business Standard, 20 MayResults

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

Orient Beverages (BSE:507690) - Stock Analysis

Simply Wall Street, 13 Oct

Poona Dal FY26 Net Profit Rises 10.5% to ₹148.33 Lakh

scanx.trade, 19 MayResults

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

Solvent Extraction Oil Mills Penny Stocks 2027: 5 Picks

Univest, 17 Sept

Poona Dal & Oil Industries Establishes ₹5.00 Crore Cashew Processing Unit in Pune

scanx.trade, 21 Jan

Watch Items

Cross-check against the company's latest quarterly filing / investor presentation before acting.
1 metric couldn't be retrieved for this stock — this is more common for smaller or thinly-covered listings.

DalalBaazaar Thesis

🔴Business QualityWeak7.5/20

🟡Financial HealthAdequate10.8/20

🔴GrowthWeak7.8/20

🔴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 0%1.8%
✗Free cash flow remains positive-₹6 Cr
✗ROCE stays above 8%3.5%
✓Valuation vs its own median of 31.3x24.0x today