Veritas (India) Limited

Industrials — Conglomerates · BSE

₹138.50+₹2.25 (+1.65%)

DalalBaazaar Score

36 / 100

🔴 Weak

Verdict

CAUTION

Risk

High

Driven by negative free cash flow, 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. Cash generation is currently the main factor to watch.

Decision support, not a buy or sell call.

As of 18 Oct 2026, 6:06 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 Veritas (India) Limited — what it does, how it earns, and who it competes with, before any of the numbers below.

What does this company do?

Veritas (India) Limited trades in and distributes polymers, paper and paper boards, rubber products, heavy distillates, and petrochemicals in India and internationally.

IndustryConglomerates

SectorIndustrials

Employees10

Annual revenue₹3,113 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹3,113 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹1 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹3 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 10 employees supports ₹311.26 Cr of revenue a year, the signature of a capital- or asset-led business.

EBITDA margin2.8%

Net margin0.6%

Revenue / employee₹311.26 Cr

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are LARSEN & TOUBRO LTD., SIEMENS LTD, ABB INDIA LIMITED. These are the companies its valuation and returns are measured against elsewhere in this report.

LARSEN & TOUBRO LTD.P/E 30.1x · ROE 15.2%

SIEMENS LTDP/E 88.8x · ROE 10.5%

ABB INDIA LIMITEDP/E 92.6x · ROE 19.1%

What is its competitive advantage?Little sign of one

Returns on capital of 1.4% 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.

ROCE1.4%

ROE0.7%

Peer median ROE15.2%

What has been driving growth?

Profit has moved mainly because margins changed, not because the business sold much more. Over 3 years revenue moved +44% while net margin moved -86% 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+44%

Margin effect-86%

DalalBaazaar Score

36/ 100

Weak

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✗ ROE of 0.7% is weak
✗ ROE has fallen by 3.4 points over the period

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

35/ 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

0.13x

EV/EBITDA

9.9x

PEG

—

Dividend Yield

0.04%

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well2

Very low debt
Debt/Equity of 0.18x leaves the balance sheet with plenty of headroom.
Consistently profitable
Profitable in every one of the last 4 reported years.

🔴 What Needs Attention5

Margins are compressing
EBITDA margin has slipped from 6.7% to 2.8% over 3 years.
Debt is rising
Total debt is up 77% over 3 years — worth checking what it funded.
Free cash flow is negative
The business is not currently covering its capital spending from operations.
Return on equity is falling
ROE has dropped from 4.1% to 0.7% — each rupee of shareholder capital earns less than it did.
Return on capital is falling
ROCE has declined from 3.8% to 1.4% — often a sign of competition or overexpansion.

Red Flags

6 items require attention · 2 high · 4 watch

🔴Debt has risen sharplyFinancial
Total debt is up 77% over 3 years, from ₹289 Cr to ₹512 Cr.
🔴Thin interest coverageFinancial
Operating profit covers interest only 1.7x — little room if earnings dip.
🟡Interest coverage is deterioratingFinancial
Cover has fallen from 5.5x to 1.7x.
🟡Free cash flow is negativeFinancial
Free cash flow was -₹233 Cr in the latest year.
🟡Profit is decliningFinancial
Net profit is down 79% over 3 years.
🟡Margins are compressingFinancial
EBITDA margin is down 3.8 points over 3 years.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

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?

Margins are being competed away
EBITDA margin has fallen from 6.7% to 2.8%. 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 5.8x 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 4.1% to 0.7%. 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

1Revenue growth stays above 10% a year✓ 12.9% CAGR
Latest reported year was 53.0%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.
2EBITDA margin holds above 1%✓ 2.8%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
3Debt / EBITDA falls below 3x✗ 5.8x
Already stretched, so this is a reduction target rather than a level to hold. Around 3x is where lenders typically start attaching conditions.
4Free cash flow remains positive✗ -₹233 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
5Interest cover stays above 3x✗ 1.7x
How much operating profit can fall before interest stops being comfortably covered.

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 · 2 neutral · 6 weak

Market Cap

₹371 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

0.13x

Reasonable

Reasonable against the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹-0.3

Loss-making

Negative earnings per share — the business is losing money

ROE

0.7%

Weak

Weak capital efficiency

ROCE

1.4%

Weak

Low return on total capital employed

Debt/Equity

0.18x

Low

Conservative leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

53.0%

Healthy

Healthy top-line growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

-84.9%

Falling

Profits are shrinking

Dividend Yield

0.04%

Modest

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

Free Cash Flow

-₹233 Cr

Cash burning

Spending more cash than the operations bring in

More Metrics

CMP

₹138.5

Operating Margin

1.0%

Weak

Thin margins leave little room for error

Net Margin

-0.0%

Weak

Very little revenue reaches the bottom line

Current Ratio

1.45

Comfortable

Healthy short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

1.27

Market-like

Moves roughly in line with the market

52W Range Position

Near low

Near its 52-week low

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

146.6 / 157.8

Bearish alignment (short < long)

Price vs SMA 200

Below

Long-term downtrend

RSI (14)

18.7

Oversold zone

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹2,163 Cr	₹3,855 Cr	₹4,098 Cr	₹3,113 Cr	+12.9%
EBITDA	₹144 Cr	₹257 Cr	₹179 Cr	₹88 Cr	-15.2%
EBITDA Margin	6.7%	6.7%	4.4%	2.8%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹95 Cr	₹187 Cr	₹114 Cr	₹20 Cr	-40.8%
EPS	₹35.36	₹69.69	₹42.36	₹7.35	-40.8%
ROE	4.1%	7.4%	4.3%	0.7%	—
ROCE	3.8%	5.8%	4.7%	1.4%	—
Total Debt	₹289 Cr	₹327 Cr	₹272 Cr	₹512 Cr	+21.0%
Free Cash Flow	₹79 Cr	₹24 Cr	₹37 Cr	-₹233 Cr	—

🟢 Revenue has grown at 12.9% a year over 3 years.

🔴 EBITDA has shrunk at 15.2% a year over 3 years.

🔴 EBITDA Margin has fallen from 6.7% to 2.8% over 3 years (-3.8 pts).

🔴 PAT (Net Profit) has shrunk at 40.8% a year over 3 years.

🔴 EPS has shrunk at 40.8% a year over 3 years.

🔴 ROE has fallen from 4.1% to 0.7% over 3 years (-3.4 pts).

🔴 ROCE has fallen from 3.8% to 1.4% over 3 years (-2.3 pts).

🔴 Total Debt has grown at 21.0% a year over 3 years.

🔴 Free Cash Flow has turned negative, from ₹79 Cr to -₹233 Cr.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹4,716 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹1,852 Cr

Total Debt

₹512 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹17 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

-₹233 Cr

Capex

-₹0 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

0.0%

Insider Holding

89.6%

Corporate Actions

Dividend Rate

₹0.05

Ex-Dividend Date

28 Aug 2026

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
LARSEN & TOUBRO LTD.	30.1x	15.2%
SIEMENS LTD	88.8x	10.5%
ABB INDIA LIMITED	92.6x	19.1%

Recent News

1 negative5 general

Veritas (India) Share Price near 52-week low, Rs 133.85

Univest, 14 Oct

JKIPL Stock Price and Chart — NSE:JKIPL

TradingView, 15 Oct

Veritas (India) Ltd. Shareholding Pattern – Promoters, FIIs & DIIs

Value Research, 27 Aug

Veritas (India) consolidated net profit declines 84.84% in the June 2026 quarter

Business Standard, 13 AugResults

🔴Potentially negativeReported deterioration, which feeds the growth and margin inputs on this page directly.

Veritas India Regularises Independent Director Appointment Following Postal Ballot

scanx.trade, 13 Apr

Veritas (India) Ltd. Peer Comparison – Compare with Others

Value Research, 02 Sept

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

🔴Business QualityWeak6.2/20

🟡Financial HealthAdequate9.1/20

🔴GrowthWeak7.7/20

🔴ProfitabilityWeak3.4/15

🟡ValuationFair7.1/15

🔴RiskHigh2.7/10

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

✓Revenue growth stays above 10% a year12.9% CAGR
✓EBITDA margin holds above 1%2.8%
✗Debt / EBITDA falls below 3x5.8x
✗Free cash flow remains positive-₹233 Cr
✗Interest cover stays above 3x1.7x