The United Nilgiri Tea Estates Company Limited

Consumer Defensive — Farm Products · NSE

₹408.10−₹4.90 (−1.19%)

DalalBaazaar Score

72 / 100

🟢 Good

Verdict

REASONABLE

Risk

Moderate

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

In simple words: Reasonable but unspectacular business quality, but sales are shrinking. The direction of profits is 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 The United Nilgiri Tea Estates Company Limited — what it does, how it earns, and who it competes with, before any of the numbers below.

What does this company do?

The United Nilgiri Tea Estates Company Limited engages in growing, manufacturing, and selling teas in India and internationally. The company offers black, special, green, herbal, and gift teas. It is also involved in letting-out of properties.

IndustryFarm Products

SectorConsumer Defensive

Employees1,062

Annual revenue₹82 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹82 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹27 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹27 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 1,062 employees supports ₹7.8 lakh of revenue a year, the signature of a people-led business.

Revenue / employee₹7.8 lakh

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are HINDUSTAN UNILEVER LTD., ITC LTD, NESTLE INDIA LIMITED, BRITANNIA INDUSTRIES 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 10.5% 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 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 +80% 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+80%

DalalBaazaar Score

72/ 100

Good

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✗ Revenue CAGR of only 0.1% — barely ahead of inflation
✓ Profit CAGR of 21.9% is above 15%
✗ Latest-year revenue growth of -10.5% is below the longer-term trend — momentum is fading
✗ Profit fell 20.5% in the latest year

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

70/ 100

Good

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

Valuation

84/ 100

Cheap

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

A good business currently available at an undemanding price — the combination this framework is built to look for.

Historical Valuation

Current P/E

10.0x

3Y Median

13.1x

40 monthly readings · mean 13.2x · range 9.3x–17.6x

Sector Median

43.3x

median of 4 sector peers

🟢Current valuation is approximately 24% below its 3y median of 13.1x. 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 77% below the peer median of 43.3x.

vs. its own history

Cheap

13.1x median over 40 months · -24%

vs. sector peers

Cheap

43.3x median of 4 peers · -77%

vs. generic bands

Cheap

Below 15x

EV/EBITDA

9.0x

PEG

0.46

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well3

Margins are improving
EBITDA margin is up from 17.8% to 27.0% over 3 years.
Return on capital is rising
ROCE has improved from 7.8% to 10.5%.
Consistently profitable
Profitable in every one of the last 4 reported years.

🔴 What Needs Attention0

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

Red Flags

2 items require attention · 1 high · 1 watch

🔴Profit up while operating cash flow fallsFinancial
Reported profit rose but cash generated by operations declined — worth checking whether earnings are being supported by non-cash items or working capital.
🟡Receivables growing faster than salesFinancial
Receivables up 37% against revenue up 0% — sales are being booked faster than they are collected.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Margin expansion has further to run
EBITDA margin has risen from 17.8% to 27.0%. If that holds, profit compounds faster than sales and today's multiple looks cheaper in hindsight than it does now.
Priced below its own history
The stock trades 24% 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 77% 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?

Sales are being booked faster than collected
Receivables are up 37% against revenue up 0%. 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 0.1% 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.
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 25%✓ 27.0%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
2Revenue growth stays above 4% a year✗ 0.1% CAGR
Latest reported year was -10.5%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.
3Free cash flow remains positive✓ ₹9 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
4ROCE stays above 8%✓ 10.5%
Falling returns on capital are usually competition arriving, and show up here before they reach the margin.
5Valuation vs its own median of 13.1x✓ 10.0x today
A re-rating above its own history needs a reason; without one it is just a higher price.

Investment Checklist

5 / 10 checks passed

✗ Strong return on equity (ROE ≥ 15%)
✗ Strong return on capital employed (ROCE ≥ 15%)
✓ Healthy net margin (≥ 10%)
✓ Generates positive free cash flow
✓ 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

4 good · 5 neutral · 2 weak

Market Cap

₹204 Cr

Micro Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

10.0x

Cheap

Cheap against the generic band

P/B Ratio

0.85x

Reasonable

Reasonable against the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹40.62

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

9.1%

Moderate

Moderate capital efficiency

ROCE

10.5%

Moderate

Moderate return on the capital in the business

Debt/Equity

Not available

No data

Source didn't return this field

Revenue Growth (YoY)

-10.5%

Shrinking

Sales are contracting

Profit Growth (YoY)

-20.5%

Falling

Profits are shrinking

Dividend Yield

0.78%

Modest

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

Free Cash Flow

₹9 Cr

Cash generative

Generates cash even after funding its capex

More Metrics

Operating Margin

21.2%

Good

Healthy core-business profitability

Net Margin

25.1%

Good

Strong bottom-line conversion

Current Ratio

10.04

Comfortable

Healthy short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

-0.00

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

Near low

Near its 52-week low

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

418.4 / 437.7

Bearish alignment (short < long)

Price vs SMA 200

Below

Long-term downtrend

RSI (14)

39.3

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹82 Cr	₹82 Cr	₹89 Cr	₹82 Cr	+0.1%
EBITDA	₹15 Cr	₹17 Cr	₹16 Cr	₹22 Cr	+14.9%
EBITDA Margin	17.8%	20.4%	18.4%	27.0%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹12 Cr	₹16 Cr	₹19 Cr	₹22 Cr	+21.9%
EPS	₹24.25	₹32.13	₹37.04	₹43.91	+21.9%
ROE	6.5%	7.9%	8.4%	9.1%	—
ROCE	7.8%	9.7%	9.4%	10.5%	—
Free Cash Flow	₹11 Cr	₹6 Cr	₹18 Cr	₹9 Cr	-4.1%

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

🟢 EBITDA has grown at 14.9% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA Margin has risen from 17.8% to 27.0% over 3 years (+9.1 pts).

🟢 PAT (Net Profit) has grown at 21.9% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EPS has grown at 21.9% a year over 3 years.

🟢 ROE has risen from 6.5% to 9.1% over 3 years (+2.6 pts).

🟢 ROCE has risen from 7.8% to 10.5% over 3 years (+2.6 pts).

🔴 Free Cash Flow has shrunk at 4.1% a year over 3 years.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹256 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹14 Cr

Total Debt

—

Cash & Equivalents

₹4 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

₹13 Cr

Capex

-₹4 Cr

Corporate Actions

Dividend Rate

₹3.2

Ex-Dividend Date

31 Jul 2026

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
HINDUSTAN UNILEVER LTD.	42.5x	21.5%
ITC LTD	16.6x	27.4%
NESTLE INDIA LIMITED	59.8x	79.9%
BRITANNIA INDUSTRIES LTD	44.1x	51.0%

Recent News

1 positive5 general

UNITEDTEA Share/Stock Price Live, NSE

TechGraph, 12 Oct

The United Nilgiri Tea Estates Company Share: Bull Case vs Bear Case for 2026

Univest, 28 Sept

UNITEDTEA Dips Marginally to ₹439.9 on NSE; Price Consolidates Within Range-Bound Zone - Momentum Trade

siam.in, 09 Sept

MLKFOOD Stock Price and Chart — NSE:MLKFOOD

TradingView, 18 Aug

IRB Infrastructure Developers consolidated net profit rises 37.98% in the March 2026 quarter

Business Standard, 20 MayResults

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

The Grob Tea Company Ltd. Share Price News and Analysis

Univest, 17 Aug

Watch Items

Revenue growth is negative (-10.5%) on the latest reported period — check if this is one-off or a trend.
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.
1 metric couldn't be retrieved for this stock — this is more common for smaller or thinly-covered listings.

DalalBaazaar Thesis

StrongBusiness Quality · Financial Health · Valuation

MiddlingGrowth · Profitability · Risk

Points for each in the Score ↑

Attractive on both counts

A good business currently available at an undemanding price — the combination this framework exists to look for. The work left is qualitative: whether the advantage the numbers imply is one you can identify and expect to last. 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 ↑