Universal Autofoundry Limited

Consumer Cyclical — Auto Parts · BSE

₹52.45+₹1.75 (+3.45%)

DalalBaazaar Score

28 / 100

🔴 Weak

Verdict

HIGH RISK

Risk

Very High

Driven by moderate debt load, negative free cash flow, the company is currently loss-making.

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, 7:01 pm

Understanding the Business

Company site ↗

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

What does this company do?

Universal Autofoundry Limited manufactures and sells cast iron and ductile iron castings for the automobiles, earth movers, agriculture, railway, and international market in India and internationally.

IndustryAuto Parts

SectorConsumer Cyclical

Employees220

Annual revenue₹210 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹210 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹-2 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹5 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 220 employees supports ₹95.5 lakh of revenue a year, the signature of a people-led business.

Revenue / employee₹95.5 lakh

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.

Compared side by side in Peers ↓

What is its competitive advantage?Little sign of one

Returns on capital of -0.2% 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.

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 -11% while net margin moved -136% 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-11%

Margin effect-136%

DalalBaazaar Score

28/ 100

Weak

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✗ Revenue has contracted at 3.8% a year
✗ Profit fell 242.1% in the latest year

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

22/ 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

EV/EBITDA

14.4x

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 18.1% to -4.6% — each rupee of shareholder capital earns less than it did.
Return on capital is falling
ROCE has declined from 24.7% to -0.2% — often a sign of competition or overexpansion.

Red Flags

6 items require attention · 4 high · 2 watch

🔴Thin interest coverageFinancial
Operating profit covers interest only -0.1x — 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 -₹3 Cr in the latest reported year.
🔴Significant margin compressionFinancial
EBITDA margin has fallen 6.3 points, from 10.9% to 4.5%.
🟡Debt is increasingFinancial
Total debt is up 30% over 3 years.
🟡Interest coverage is deterioratingFinancial
Cover has fallen from 2.0x to -0.1x.

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 10.9% to 4.5%. If the trend continues, profit falls even on flat sales — and margin decline rarely reverses quickly.
The debt load needs earnings to hold up
Debt is 7.5x 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 18.1% to -4.6%. 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.

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

1EBITDA margin holds above 3%✓ 4.5%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
2Debt / EBITDA falls below 3x✗ 7.5x
Already stretched, so this is a reduction target rather than a level to hold. Around 3x is where lenders typically start attaching conditions.
3Free cash flow remains positive✗ -₹12 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
4Interest cover stays above 3x✗ -0.1x
How much operating profit can fall before interest stops being comfortably covered.
5ROCE stays above 8%✗ -0.2%
Falling returns on capital are usually competition arriving, and show up here before they reach the margin.

Investment Checklist

4 / 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

₹65 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

0.93x

Reasonable

Reasonable against the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹-4.54

Loss-making

Negative earnings per share — the business is losing money

ROE

-7.7%

Weak

Weak capital efficiency

ROCE

-0.2%

Weak

Low return on total capital employed

Debt/Equity

1.14x

Moderate

Moderate leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

16.7%

Healthy

Healthy top-line growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

-242.1%

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

-₹12 Cr

Cash burning

Spending more cash than the operations bring in

More Metrics

ROA

-1.7%

Weak

Assets generate little profit

Operating Margin

-1.3%

Weak

Thin margins leave little room for error

Net Margin

-2.6%

Weak

Very little revenue reaches the bottom line

Current Ratio

1.21

Comfortable

Healthy short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

-0.07

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

38%

Mid-range

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

50.8 / 51.4

Bearish alignment (short < long)

Price vs SMA 200

Below

Long-term downtrend

RSI (14)

55.0

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹236 Cr	₹203 Cr	₹193 Cr	₹210 Cr	-3.8%
EBITDA	₹26 Cr	₹16 Cr	₹17 Cr	₹10 Cr	-28.2%
EBITDA Margin	10.9%	7.8%	8.8%	4.5%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹10 Cr	₹5 Cr	₹2 Cr	-₹3 Cr	—
EPS	₹10.38	₹4.06	₹1.89	₹-2.69	—
ROE	18.1%	6.7%	3.1%	-4.6%	—
ROCE	24.7%	10.1%	7.1%	-0.2%	—
Total Debt	₹55 Cr	₹37 Cr	₹46 Cr	₹71 Cr	+9.2%
Free Cash Flow	-₹5 Cr	-₹16 Cr	-₹6 Cr	-₹12 Cr	—

🔴 Revenue has shrunk at 3.8% a year over 3 years.

🔴 EBITDA has shrunk at 28.2% a year over 3 years.

🔴 EBITDA Margin has fallen from 10.9% to 4.5% over 3 years (-6.3 pts).

🔴 PAT (Net Profit) has turned negative, from ₹10 Cr to -₹3 Cr.

🔴 EPS has turned negative, from ₹10.38 to ₹-2.69.

🔴 ROE has fallen from 18.1% to -4.6% over 3 years (-22.7 pts).

🔴 ROCE has fallen from 24.7% to -0.2% over 3 years (-24.9 pts).

🔴 Total Debt has grown at 9.2% a year over 3 years.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹164 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹92 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹0 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

₹8 Cr

Capex

-₹19 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

0.0%

Insider Holding

60.7%

Corporate Actions

Ex-Dividend Date

30 Sept 2021

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

Universal Autofoundry faces ₹3.56 crore MSMED claim from supplier

scanx.trade, 14 Oct

Universal Auto Foundry Ltd. Shareholding Pattern – Promoters, FIIs & DIIs

Value Research, 30 Aug

Universal Auto Foundry Ltd. Key Financial Ratios – Valuation, Profitability & More

Value Research, 01 Sept

Universal Autofoundry Limited Share Price

Upstox, 20 Mar

Ashish Kacholia Offloads 2.5% Stake in this Auto Ancillary Stock Under Rs 250

Equitymaster, 01 Jan

Universal Autofoundry locked in upper circuit after Ashish Kancholia picks up 8.5% stake

Moneycontrol.com, 25 Aug

Watch Items

Cross-check against the company's latest quarterly filing / investor presentation before acting.

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

4 of 5 tripwires tripped — Debt / EBITDA falls below 3x; Free cash flow remains positive; Interest cover stays above 3x; ROCE stays above 8% · see Key things to watch ↑