UCAL Limited

Consumer Cyclical — Auto Parts · NSE

₹132.00+₹0.80 (+0.61%)

DalalBaazaar Score

36 / 100

🔴 Weak

Verdict

CAUTION

Risk

Very High

Driven by short-term liabilities exceed short-term assets, the company is currently loss-making, micro-cap size, which brings thin liquidity.

In simple words: The company is currently losing money, though profits are falling even as sales grow. Short-term liquidity 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 UCAL Limited — what it does, how it earns, and who it competes with, before any of the numbers below.

What does this company do?

UCAL Limited engages in the manufacturing of fuel management systems for the automotive sector in India.

IndustryAuto Parts

SectorConsumer Cyclical

Employees630

Annual revenue₹833 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹833 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹-4 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹7 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 630 employees supports ₹1.32 Cr of revenue a year, the signature of a capital- or asset-led business.

EBITDA margin6.7%

Net margin-4.0%

Revenue / employee₹1.32 Cr

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are BOSCH LIMITED, MARUTI SUZUKI INDIA LTD., TVS MOTOR COMPANY LTD, EICHER MOTORS LTD. These are the companies its valuation and returns are measured against elsewhere in this report.

BOSCH LIMITEDP/E 56.9x · ROE 15.9%

MARUTI SUZUKI INDIA LTD.P/E 25.2x · ROE 13.4%

TVS MOTOR COMPANY LTDP/E 56.8x · ROE 35.8%

EICHER MOTORS LTDP/E 34.7x · ROE 23.0%

What is its competitive advantage?Little sign of one

Returns on capital of 0.1% 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.

ROCE0.1%

ROE-10.2%

Peer median ROE23.0%

What has been driving growth?

Profit has moved mainly because margins changed, not because the business sold much more. Over 3 years revenue moved +2% while net margin moved -3947% 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+2%

Margin effect-3947%

DalalBaazaar Score

36/ 100

Weak

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✗ Return on equity is negative
✗ ROE has fallen by 10.4 points over the period

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

33/ 100

Weak

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

Valuation

44/ 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

P/E (Trailing)

Not meaningful

P/B

0.89x

EV/EBITDA

8.4x

PEG

—

Dividend Yield

None

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well1

Cash generation is improving
Free cash flow is up 110% over 3 years.

🔴 What Needs Attention3

Return on equity is falling
ROE has dropped from 0.2% to -10.2% — each rupee of shareholder capital earns less than it did.
Return on capital is falling
ROCE has declined from 6.0% to 0.1% — often a sign of competition or overexpansion.
Short-term liquidity is tight
Current ratio of 0.98 — near-term obligations exceed near-term assets.

Red Flags

4 items require attention · 2 high · 2 watch

🔴Thin interest coverageFinancial
Operating profit covers interest only 0.0x — little room if earnings dip.
🔴The company is lossmakingFinancial
Net profit of -₹33 Cr in the latest reported year.
🟡Interest coverage is deterioratingFinancial
Cover has fallen from 0.7x to 0.0x.
🟡Short-term liquidity is tightFinancial
Current ratio of 0.98 — 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?

The debt load needs earnings to hold up
Debt is 3.3x EBITDA. At that level a downturn in earnings turns a manageable balance sheet into a refinancing problem, and lenders get paid before shareholders.
Growth barely outpaces inflation
Revenue compounding at 0.5% 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 0.2% to -10.2%. 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 5%✓ 6.7%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
2Debt / EBITDA falls below 3x✗ 3.3x
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✗ 0.0x
How much operating profit can fall before interest stops being comfortably covered.
4Revenue growth stays above 4% a year✗ 0.5% CAGR
Latest reported year was 4.4%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.
5Free cash flow remains positive✓ ₹91 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.

Investment Checklist

5 / 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

3 good · 3 neutral · 5 weak

Market Cap

₹292 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

0.89x

Reasonable

Reasonable against the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹-9.71

Loss-making

Negative earnings per share — the business is losing money

ROE

-10.2%

Weak

Weak capital efficiency

ROCE

0.1%

Weak

Low return on total capital employed

Debt/Equity

0.57x

Low

Conservative leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

4.4%

Modest

Modest growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

-104.7%

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

₹91 Cr

Cash generative

Generates cash even after funding its capex

More Metrics

CMP

₹132

Operating Margin

6.5%

Average

Average margins

Net Margin

-2.5%

Weak

Very little revenue reaches the bottom line

Current Ratio

0.98

Adequate

Adequate, but no real cushion

Beta (vs Nifty)

0.74

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

63%

Mid-range

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

138.9 / 140.0

Bearish alignment (short < long)

Price vs SMA 200

Above

Long-term uptrend

RSI (14)

29.6

Oversold zone

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹820 Cr	₹719 Cr	₹797 Cr	₹833 Cr	+0.5%
EBITDA	₹64 Cr	₹48 Cr	₹43 Cr	₹56 Cr	-4.8%
EBITDA Margin	7.9%	6.7%	5.4%	6.7%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹1 Cr	-₹25 Cr	-₹16 Cr	-₹33 Cr	—
EPS	₹0.39	₹-11.42	₹-7.36	₹-15.07	—
ROE	0.2%	-6.8%	-4.6%	-10.2%	—
ROCE	6.0%	2.9%	3.4%	0.1%	—
Total Debt	₹205 Cr	₹268 Cr	₹312 Cr	₹186 Cr	-3.3%
Free Cash Flow	₹43 Cr	-₹49 Cr	₹5 Cr	₹91 Cr	+28.1%

🟡 Revenue has been broadly flat over 3 years (0.5% a year).

🔴 EBITDA has shrunk at 4.8% a year over 3 years.

🔴 EBITDA Margin has fallen from 7.9% to 6.7% over 3 years (-1.2 pts).

🔴 PAT (Net Profit) has turned negative, from ₹1 Cr to -₹33 Cr.

🔴 EPS has turned negative, from ₹0.39 to ₹-15.07.

🔴 ROE has fallen from 0.2% to -10.2% over 3 years (-10.4 pts).

🔴 ROCE has fallen from 6.0% to 0.1% over 3 years (-5.9 pts).

🟢 Total Debt has shrunk at 3.3% a year over 3 years.

🟢 Free Cash Flow has grown at 28.1% a year over 3 years.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹680 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹354 Cr

Total Debt

₹186 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹8 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

₹91 Cr

Capex

—

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

0.0%

Insider Holding

72.0%

Corporate Actions

Ex-Dividend Date

22 Sept 2023

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
BOSCH LIMITED	56.9x	15.9%
MARUTI SUZUKI INDIA LTD.	25.2x	13.4%
TVS MOTOR COMPANY LTD	56.8x	35.8%
EICHER MOTORS LTD	34.7x	23.0%

Recent News

6 general

UCAL (UCAL) Share/Stock Price Live, NSE

TechGraph, 08 Oct

UCAL Ltd. Share Price Near 52-Week High Analysis

Univest, 17 Aug

UCAL confirms postal ballot dispatch for director re-appointments

scanx.trade, 14 Oct

Does UCAL (NSE:UCAL) Have A Healthy Balance Sheet?

Simply Wall Street, 15 Jan

UCAL Limited (UCAL.NS) Eases 1.43% to ₹145.8, Sits Midway Between Key Support and Resistance - Gamma Flip Level

https://www.siam.in/, 10 Sept

UCAL Historical Data

Equitypandit, 22 Nov

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 QualityWeak4.7/20

🟡Financial HealthAdequate9.8/20

🔴GrowthWeak7.6/20

🔴ProfitabilityWeak2.5/15

🟡ValuationFair7.1/15

🔴RiskHigh4.4/10

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

This thesis breaks if

✓EBITDA margin holds above 5%6.7%
✗Debt / EBITDA falls below 3x3.3x
✗Interest cover stays above 3x0.0x
✗Revenue growth stays above 4% a year0.5% CAGR
✓Free cash flow remains positive₹91 Cr