Tirupati Starch and Chemicals Limited

Consumer Defensive — Packaged Foods · BSE

₹118.85+₹6.70 (+5.97%)

DalalBaazaar Score

36 / 100

🔴 Weak

Verdict

CAUTION

Risk

Very High

Driven by high debt relative to equity, short-term liabilities exceed short-term assets, micro-cap size, which brings thin liquidity.

In simple words: Reasonable but unspectacular business quality, but sales are shrinking. Debt is 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 Tirupati Starch and Chemicals Limited — what it does, how it earns, and who it competes with, before any of the numbers below.

What does this company do?

Tirupati Starch and Chemicals Limited manufactures and sells starch, dextrose anhydrous, liquid glucose, and other products in India.

IndustryPackaged Foods

SectorConsumer Defensive

Employees332

Annual revenue₹359 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹359 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹2 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹7 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 332 employees supports ₹1.08 Cr of revenue a year, the signature of a capital- or asset-led business.

EBITDA margin7.5%

Net margin1.8%

Revenue / employee₹1.08 Cr

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are NESTLE INDIA LIMITED, BRITANNIA INDUSTRIES LTD, TATA CONSUMER PRODUCT LTD, DABUR INDIA LTD. These are the companies its valuation and returns are measured against elsewhere in this report.

NESTLE INDIA LIMITEDP/E 59.8x · ROE 79.9%

BRITANNIA INDUSTRIES LTDP/E 44.1x · ROE 51.0%

TATA CONSUMER PRODUCT LTDP/E 59.3x · ROE 7.5%

DABUR INDIA LTDP/E 34.7x · ROE 17.2%

What is its competitive advantage?Little sign of one

Returns on capital of 14.2% 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.

ROCE14.2%

ROE9.6%

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 -0% while net margin moved -1% 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-0%

Margin effect-1%

DalalBaazaar Score

36/ 100

Weak

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✗ Revenue has contracted at 0.1% a year
✗ Profit has declined at 0.6% a year
✗ Profit fell 52.7% in the latest year

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

31/ 100

Weak

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.

Weak on business quality and not cheap enough to compensate.

Historical Valuation

Current P/E

20.0x

3Y Median

20.7x

40 monthly readings · mean 32.7x · range 9.0x–74.7x

Sector Median

51.7x

median of 4 sector peers

🟡Currently trading close to its 3y median of 20.7x — the market is paying about what it usually pays for this company.

🟢Against its sector it trades 61% below the peer median of 51.7x.

vs. its own history

Fair

20.7x median over 40 months · -3%

vs. sector peers

Cheap

51.7x median of 4 peers · -61%

vs. generic bands

Fair

15x–35x

P/E (Trailing)

20.0x

P/B

1.70x

EV/EBITDA

8.3x

PEG

—

Dividend Yield

None

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well3

Margins are improving
EBITDA margin is up from 5.9% to 7.5% over 3 years.
Cash flow has turned positive
Free cash flow moved from negative to positive over 3 years.
Consistently profitable
Profitable in every one of the last 4 reported years.

🔴 What Needs Attention3

Return on equity is falling
ROE has dropped from 14.3% to 9.6% — each rupee of shareholder capital earns less than it did.
Inventory building faster than sales
Inventory is up 155% against revenue growth of -0% — stock may not be moving.
Short-term liquidity is tight
Current ratio of 0.86 — near-term obligations exceed near-term assets.

Red Flags

4 items require attention · 3 high · 1 watch

🔴High leverageFinancial
Debt/Equity of 1.64x — earnings must service borrowings before shareholders see anything.
🔴Thin interest coverageFinancial
Operating profit covers interest only 1.9x — little room if earnings dip.
🔴Inventory building faster than salesFinancial
Inventory up 155% against revenue up -0% — stock may not be moving.
🟡Short-term liquidity is tightFinancial
Current ratio of 0.86 — near-term obligations exceed near-term assets.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Margin expansion has further to run
EBITDA margin has risen from 5.9% to 7.5%. 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 61% 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?

The debt load needs earnings to hold up
Debt is 4.0x EBITDA. At that level a downturn in earnings turns a manageable balance sheet into a refinancing problem, and lenders get paid before shareholders.
Returns on shareholder capital are falling
ROE has dropped from 14.3% to 9.6%. 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.
Several serious flags at once
3 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 5%✓ 7.5%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
2Debt / EBITDA falls below 3x✗ 4.0x
Already stretched, so this is a reduction target rather than a level to hold. Around 3x is where lenders typically start attaching conditions.
3Interest cover stays above 3x✗ 1.9x
How much operating profit can fall before interest stops being comfortably covered.
4Free cash flow remains positive✓ ₹35 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
5ROCE stays above 11%✓ 14.2%
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 · 6 neutral · 3 weak

Market Cap

₹114 Cr

Micro Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

20.0x

Fair

Fairly valued against the generic band

P/B Ratio

1.70x

Fair

Moderate premium to the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹5.94

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

9.6%

Moderate

Moderate capital efficiency

ROCE

14.2%

Moderate

Moderate return on the capital in the business

Debt/Equity

1.64x

High

High leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

-0.7%

Shrinking

Sales are contracting

Profit Growth (YoY)

-52.7%

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

₹35 Cr

Cash generative

Generates cash even after funding its capex

More Metrics

CMP

₹118.85

Operating Margin

3.8%

Weak

Thin margins leave little room for error

Net Margin

1.5%

Weak

Very little revenue reaches the bottom line

Current Ratio

0.86

Adequate

Adequate, but no real cushion

Beta (vs Nifty)

0.50

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

12%

Near low

Near its 52-week low

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

120.9 / 131.9

Bearish alignment (short < long)

Price vs SMA 200

Below

Long-term downtrend

RSI (14)

42.6

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹361 Cr	₹302 Cr	₹383 Cr	₹359 Cr	-0.1%
EBITDA	₹21 Cr	₹20 Cr	₹28 Cr	₹27 Cr	+8.1%
EBITDA Margin	5.9%	6.8%	7.4%	7.5%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹7 Cr	₹2 Cr	₹8 Cr	₹6 Cr	-0.6%
EPS	₹9	₹2.52	₹7.85	₹6.74	-9.2%
ROE	14.3%	4.1%	12.4%	9.6%	—
ROCE	13.7%	8.3%	14.4%	14.2%	—
Total Debt	₹89 Cr	₹152 Cr	₹134 Cr	₹108 Cr	+7.0%
Free Cash Flow	-₹3 Cr	-₹65 Cr	₹22 Cr	₹35 Cr	—

🟡 Revenue has been broadly flat over 3 years (-0.1% a year).

🟢 EBITDA has grown at 8.1% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA Margin has risen from 5.9% to 7.5% over 3 years (+1.6 pts).

🟡 PAT (Net Profit) has been broadly flat over 3 years (-0.6% a year).

🔴 EPS has shrunk at 9.2% a year over 3 years.

🔴 ROE has fallen from 14.3% to 9.6% over 3 years (-4.7 pts).

🟡 ROCE has held roughly flat at 14.2% over 3 years.

🔴 Total Debt has grown at 7.0% a year over 3 years.

🟢 Free Cash Flow has turned positive, from -₹3 Cr to ₹35 Cr.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹210 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹143 Cr

Total Debt

₹108 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹0 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

₹42 Cr

Capex

-₹7 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

0.0%

Insider Holding

74.2%

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
NESTLE INDIA LIMITED	59.8x	79.9%
BRITANNIA INDUSTRIES LTD	44.1x	51.0%
TATA CONSUMER PRODUCT LTD	59.3x	7.5%
DABUR INDIA LTD	34.7x	17.2%

Recent News

6 general

Tirupati Starch & Chemicals Ltd. Key Financial Ratios – Valuation, Profitability & More

Value Research, 30 Aug

Tirupati Starch & Chemicals (TIRUSTA) Share Price near 52-week low as stock trades at Rs 114.05

Univest, 08 Oct

Tirupati Starch board approves sale of Indore immovable property

scanx.trade, 01 Oct

Tirupati Starch & Chemicals Ltd. Share Price Live Today

CNBC TV18, 03 Jan

Tirupati Starch & Chemicals Ltd. Peer Comparison – Compare with Others

Value Research, 30 Aug

Tirupati Starch & Chemicals 52 Week Low Streak: Consecutive Low Analysis

Univest, 09 Oct

Watch Items

Revenue growth is negative (-0.7%) on the latest reported period — check if this is one-off or a trend.
Cross-check against the company's latest quarterly filing / investor presentation before acting.

DalalBaazaar Thesis

🟡Business QualityAdequate9/20

🔴Financial HealthStretched7.2/20

🔴GrowthWeak2.4/20

🔴ProfitabilityWeak4.6/15

🟡ValuationFair9.3/15

🔴RiskHigh3.9/10

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

This thesis breaks if

✓EBITDA margin holds above 5%7.5%
✗Debt / EBITDA falls below 3x4.0x
✗Interest cover stays above 3x1.9x
✓Free cash flow remains positive₹35 Cr
✓ROCE stays above 11%14.2%