Punjab Chemicals and Crop Protection Limited

Basic Materials — Chemicals · NSE

₹995.40−₹0.50 (−0.05%)

DalalBaazaar Score

58 / 100

🟡 Moderate

Verdict

NEUTRAL

Risk

Moderate

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

In simple words: Strong business and financial position, with modest growth. Nothing on this snapshot stands out as an immediate concern — the usual checks on business quality and management still apply.

Decision support, not a buy or sell call.

As of 18 Oct 2026, 7:02 pm

Understanding the Business

Company site ↗

The 60-second version of Punjab Chemicals and Crop Protection Limited — what it does, how it earns, and who it competes with, before any of the numbers below.

What does this company do?

Punjab Chemicals and Crop Protection Limited manufactures and sells agrochemicals, specialty chemicals, bulk drugs, and related intermediates in India, Europe, Japan, Israel, the United States, Latin America, and internationally.

IndustryChemicals

SectorBasic Materials

Employees1,264

Annual revenue₹1,007 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹1,007 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹6 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹13 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 1,264 employees supports ₹79.7 lakh of revenue a year, the signature of a people-led business.

Revenue / employee₹79.7 lakh

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.

Compared side by side in Peers ↓

What is its competitive advantage?The numbers suggest a real one

ROCE has stayed above 15% in every year available and stands at 20.5%. Returns that high normally get competed away; when they persist, something is protecting them, and its ROE of 15.1% 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.

Peer median ROE15.4%

What has been driving growth?

Growth has come mainly from selling more, rather than from keeping more of each sale. Over 3 years revenue moved +3% while net margin moved +2% 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+2%

DalalBaazaar Score

58/ 100

Moderate

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✗ Revenue CAGR of only 1.0% — barely ahead of inflation
✗ Profit CAGR of only 1.5%

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

57/ 100

Average

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

Valuation

67/ 100

Fair

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

18.7x

3Y Median

26.5x

40 monthly readings · mean 28.2x · range 17.1x–47.0x

Sector Median

33.8x

median of 3 sector peers

🟢Current valuation is approximately 30% below its 3y median of 26.5x. 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 33.8x.

vs. its own history

Cheap

26.5x median over 40 months · -30%

vs. sector peers

Cheap

33.8x median of 3 peers · -45%

vs. generic bands

Fair

15x–35x

EV/EBITDA

10.2x

PEG

12.14

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well3

Cash generation is improving
Free cash flow is up 91% over 3 years.
High return on capital employed
ROCE of 20.5% 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 Attention2

Return on equity is falling
ROE has dropped from 21.8% to 15.1% — each rupee of shareholder capital earns less than it did.
Return on capital is falling
ROCE has declined from 27.6% to 20.5% — often a sign of competition or overexpansion.

Red Flags

3 items require attention · 1 high · 2 watch

🔴Debt has risen sharplyFinancial
Total debt is up 64% over 3 years, from ₹94 Cr to ₹154 Cr.
🟡Receivables growing faster than salesFinancial
Receivables up 42% against revenue up 3% — sales are being booked faster than they are collected.
🟡Inventory building faster than salesFinancial
Inventory up 46% against revenue up 3% — stock may not be moving.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Capital compounds at a high rate
ROCE of 20.5% 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.
Priced below its own history
The stock trades 30% 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.
Self-funding with balance-sheet headroom
Positive free cash flow of ₹40 Cr alongside low debt means growth, buybacks or dividends need no outside money — and a downturn can be absorbed rather than refinanced.
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?

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 1.0% 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.
Returns on shareholder capital are falling
ROE has dropped from 21.8% to 15.1%. 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

1EBITDA margin holds above 11%✓ 13.3%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
2Revenue growth stays above 4% a year✗ 1.0% CAGR
Latest reported year was 8.7%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.
3Free cash flow remains positive✓ ₹40 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
4Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x✓ 1.2x
The ratio lenders write covenants against; it survives a small or negative equity base, unlike Debt/Equity.
5ROCE stays above 17%✓ 20.5%
Falling returns on capital are usually competition arriving, and show up here before they reach the margin.

Investment Checklist

9 / 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 · 6 neutral · 0 weak

Market Cap

₹1,221 Cr

Micro Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

18.7x

Fair

Fairly valued against the generic band

P/B Ratio

2.88x

Fair

Moderate premium to the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹53.34

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

15.1%

Strong

Strong capital efficiency

ROCE

20.5%

Strong

Earns comfortably above its likely cost of capital

Debt/Equity

0.36x

Low

Conservative leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

8.7%

Modest

Modest growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

7.0%

Modest

Slow profit growth

Dividend Yield

0.30%

Modest

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

Free Cash Flow

₹40 Cr

Cash generative

Generates cash even after funding its capex

More Metrics

Operating Margin

9.6%

Average

Average margins

Net Margin

6.2%

Average

Average bottom-line conversion

Current Ratio

1.52

Comfortable

Healthy short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

0.46

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

18%

Mid-range

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

1039.7 / 1078.6

Bearish alignment (short < long)

Price vs SMA 200

Below

Long-term downtrend

RSI (14)

25.5

Oversold zone

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹979 Cr	₹913 Cr	₹883 Cr	₹1,007 Cr	+1.0%
EBITDA	₹122 Cr	₹111 Cr	₹100 Cr	₹134 Cr	+3.1%
EBITDA Margin	12.5%	12.1%	11.3%	13.3%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹61 Cr	₹54 Cr	₹39 Cr	₹64 Cr	+1.5%
EPS	₹49.84	₹43.7	₹31.75	₹52.17	+1.5%
ROE	21.8%	16.2%	10.7%	15.1%	—
ROCE	27.6%	22.0%	15.5%	20.5%	—
Total Debt	₹94 Cr	₹123 Cr	₹168 Cr	₹154 Cr	+18.0%
Free Cash Flow	₹21 Cr	-₹3 Cr	-₹8 Cr	₹40 Cr	+24.0%

🟡 Revenue has been broadly flat over 3 years (1.0% a year).

🟢 EBITDA has grown at 3.1% a year over 3 years.

🟡 EBITDA Margin has held roughly flat at 13.3% over 3 years.

🟡 PAT (Net Profit) has been broadly flat over 3 years (1.5% a year).

🟡 EPS has been broadly flat over 3 years (1.5% a year).

🔴 ROE has fallen from 21.8% to 15.1% over 3 years (-6.7 pts).

🔴 ROCE has fallen from 27.6% to 20.5% over 3 years (-7.2 pts).

🔴 Total Debt has grown at 18.0% a year over 3 years.

🟢 Free Cash Flow has grown at 24.0% a year over 3 years.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹823 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹400 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹9 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

₹86 Cr

Capex

-₹46 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

3.4%

Insider Holding

67.9%

Corporate Actions

Dividend Rate

₹3

Ex-Dividend Date

17 Jul 2026

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

Is Punjab Chemicals and Crop Protection the Best Stock in Its Sector? A Look at the Numbers

Univest, 06 Oct

Punjab Chemicals & Crop Protection consolidated net profit rises 6.98% in the June 2026 quarter

Business Standard, 31 JulResults

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

Subdued Growth No Barrier To Punjab Chemicals and Crop Protection Limited's (NSE:PUNJABCHEM) Price

Simply Wall Street, 29 Jan

Punjab Chemicals & Crop Protection Ltd is Rated Hold

MarketsMojo, 11 Oct

Punjab Chemicals & Crop Protection Ltd. Shareholding Pattern – Promoters, FIIs & DIIs

Value Research, 02 Sept

Punjab Chemicals closes trading window for Q2FY27 results

scanx.trade, 29 SeptResults

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

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

StrongFinancial Health · Valuation

MiddlingBusiness Quality · Profitability · Risk

WeakGrowth

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

1 of 5 tripwires tripped — Revenue growth stays above 4% a year · see Key things to watch ↑