Thirumalai Chemicals Limited

Basic Materials — Specialty Chemicals · NSE

₹142.21−₹0.04 (−0.03%)

DalalBaazaar Score

26 / 100

🔴 Weak

Verdict

HIGH RISK

Risk

Very High

Driven by moderate debt load, short-term liabilities exceed short-term assets, negative free cash flow.

In simple words: The company is currently losing money, 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, 7:49 pm

Understanding the Business

Company site ↗

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

What does this company do?

Thirumalai Chemicals Limited, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells organic chemicals in India and internationally. The company offers phthalic anhydride, diethyl phthalate, malic acid, fumaric acid, and fine chemicals.

IndustrySpecialty Chemicals

SectorBasic Materials

Employees478

Annual revenue₹1,722 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹1,722 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹-10 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹-2 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 478 employees supports ₹3.60 Cr of revenue a year, the signature of a capital- or asset-led business.

Revenue / employee₹3.60 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.

Compared side by side in Peers ↓

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.

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 -19% while net margin moved -330% 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-19%

Margin effect-330%

DalalBaazaar Score

26/ 100

Weak

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✗ Revenue has contracted at 6.7% a year
✗ Profit fell 264.2% in the latest year

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

20/ 100

Weak

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

Valuation

36/ 100

Expensive

What you are being asked to pay, ignoring how good the business is.

Weak on business quality and not cheap enough to compensate.

vs. its own history

Not enough price and earnings history

vs. sector peers

Not enough peers with a usable P/E

vs. generic bands

N/A

No P/E — the company is lossmaking

EV/EBITDA

—

PEG

—

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well0

Nothing stands out as clearly improving on the years of data available.

🔴 What Needs Attention2

Return on equity is falling
ROE has dropped from 7.5% to -10.7% — each rupee of shareholder capital earns less than it did.
Return on capital is falling
ROCE has declined from 10.4% to -3.5% — often a sign of competition or overexpansion.

Red Flags

8 items require attention · 6 high · 2 watch

🔴Debt has risen sharplyFinancial
Total debt is up 323% over 3 years, from ₹514 Cr to ₹2,175 Cr.
🔴Thin interest coverageFinancial
Operating profit covers interest only -1.5x — little room if earnings dip.
🔴Free cash flow negative for 4 yearsFinancial
The business has not covered its capital spending from operations for several years running, which has to be funded externally.
🔴The company is lossmakingFinancial
Net profit of -₹168 Cr in the latest reported year.
🔴Significant margin compressionFinancial
EBITDA margin has fallen 11.7 points, from 9.9% to -1.8%.
🔴Receivables growing faster than salesFinancial
Receivables up 93% against revenue up -19% — sales are being booked faster than they are collected.
🟡Interest coverage is deterioratingFinancial
Cover has fallen from 0.1x to -1.5x.
🟡Short-term liquidity is tightFinancial
Current ratio of 0.61 — near-term obligations exceed near-term assets.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

No clear supporting case emerges from the available numbers.

🔴 Bear CaseWhat could go wrong?

Margins are being competed away
EBITDA margin has fallen from 9.9% to -1.8%. If the trend continues, profit falls even on flat sales — and margin decline rarely reverses quickly.
Sales are being booked faster than collected
Receivables are up 93% against revenue up -19%. If customers keep taking longer to pay, reported profit will not turn into cash — and write-offs follow if some never do.
Returns on shareholder capital are falling
ROE has dropped from 7.5% to -10.7%. 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.
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.

🟡 Key Things to WatchMeasurable tripwires, set against where this company stands today

1EBITDA margin holds above -4%✓ -1.8%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
2Free cash flow remains positive✗ -₹730 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
3Interest cover stays above 3x✗ -1.5x
How much operating profit can fall before interest stops being comfortably covered.
4ROCE stays above 8%✗ -3.5%
Falling returns on capital are usually competition arriving, and show up here before they reach the margin.

Investment Checklist

3 / 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

2 good · 3 neutral · 6 weak

Market Cap

₹1,714 Cr

Micro Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

Not meaningful

Loss-making

Earnings are negative, so a P/E multiple can't be read here

P/B Ratio

1.10x

Reasonable

Reasonable against the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹-12.93

Loss-making

Negative earnings per share — the business is losing money

ROE

-10.7%

Weak

Weak capital efficiency

ROCE

-3.5%

Weak

Low return on total capital employed

Debt/Equity

1.39x

Moderate

Moderate leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

21.5%

Healthy

Healthy top-line growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

-264.2%

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

-₹730 Cr

Cash burning

Spending more cash than the operations bring in

More Metrics

Operating Margin

1.8%

Weak

Thin margins leave little room for error

Net Margin

-8.3%

Weak

Very little revenue reaches the bottom line

Current Ratio

0.61

Tight

Tight short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

0.36

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

Near low

Near its 52-week low

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

150.0 / 155.0

Bearish alignment (short < long)

Price vs SMA 200

Below

Long-term downtrend

RSI (14)

22.2

Oversold zone

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹2,120 Cr	₹2,072 Cr	₹2,037 Cr	₹1,722 Cr	-6.7%
EBITDA	₹210 Cr	₹64 Cr	₹66 Cr	-₹31 Cr	—
EBITDA Margin	9.9%	3.1%	3.2%	-1.8%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹90 Cr	-₹39 Cr	-₹46 Cr	-₹168 Cr	—
EPS	₹8.77	₹-3.79	₹-4.5	₹-14.91	—
ROE	7.5%	-3.4%	-4.0%	-10.7%	—
ROCE	10.4%	0.1%	0.1%	-3.5%	—
Total Debt	₹514 Cr	₹1,252 Cr	₹1,786 Cr	₹2,175 Cr	+61.7%
Free Cash Flow	-₹309 Cr	-₹574 Cr	-₹679 Cr	-₹730 Cr	—

🔴 Revenue has shrunk at 6.7% a year over 3 years.

🔴 EBITDA has turned negative, from ₹210 Cr to -₹31 Cr.

🔴 EBITDA Margin has fallen from 9.9% to -1.8% over 3 years (-11.7 pts).

🔴 PAT (Net Profit) has turned negative, from ₹90 Cr to -₹168 Cr.

🔴 EPS has turned negative, from ₹8.77 to ₹-14.91.

🔴 ROE has fallen from 7.5% to -10.7% over 3 years (-18.3 pts).

🔴 ROCE has fallen from 10.4% to -3.5% over 3 years (-13.9 pts).

🔴 Total Debt has grown at 61.7% a year over 3 years.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹4,737 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹3,173 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹64 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

-₹131 Cr

Capex

-₹599 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

7.8%

Insider Holding

39.3%

Corporate Actions

Ex-Dividend Date

16 Jul 2024

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

1 mixed5 general

Thirumalai Chemicals Share Price near 52-week low, view

Univest, 08 Oct

Thirumalai Chemicals posts ₹142 cr standalone profit in Q1FY27 as US plant nears completion

scanx.trade, 04 Aug

Retail investors are Thirumalai Chemicals Limited's (NSE:TIRUMALCHM) biggest owners and were rewarded after market cap rose by ₹3.5b last week

Simply Wall Street, 10 Feb

Thirumalai Chemicals reports consolidated net loss of Rs 43.67 crore in the June 2026 quarter

Business Standard, 05 AugResults

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

Motilal Oswal Mutual Fund reduces stake in Thirumalai Chemicals Ltd

scanx.trade, 20 Jul

Thirumalai Chemicals rises to 1-month high post preferential allotment

Business Standard, 24 Dec

Watch Items

Trading very close to its 52-week low — worth checking whether this reflects a temporary setback or a structural problem.
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

MiddlingValuation

WeakBusiness Quality · Financial Health · Growth · Profitability · Risk

Points for each in the Score ↑

Weak on the fundamentals

Poor scores on business quality without a price low enough to compensate. There is no obvious argument for owning this over a stronger company at a similar valuation. 6 high-severity red flags sit above this conclusion and should be read first.

3 of 4 tripwires tripped — Free cash flow remains positive; Interest cover stays above 3x; ROCE stays above 8% · see Key things to watch ↑