Vibhor Steel Tubes Limited

Basic Materials — Steel · NSE

₹97.81−₹4.56 (−4.45%)

DalalBaazaar Score

42 / 100

🟡 Moderate

Verdict

CAUTION

Risk

High

Driven by moderate debt load, negative free cash flow, micro-cap size, which brings thin liquidity.

In simple words: The business is earning a fairly low return on the money invested in it, 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, 6:58 pm

Understanding the Business

Company site ↗

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

What does this company do?

Vibhor Steel Tubes Limited engages in the production and distribution of steel pipes and tubes for the heavy engineering sectors in India and internationally.

IndustrySteel

SectorBasic Materials

Employees803

Annual revenue₹1,149 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹1,149 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹1 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹4 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 803 employees supports ₹1.43 Cr of revenue a year, the signature of a capital- or asset-led business.

Revenue / employee₹1.43 Cr

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are TATA STEEL LIMITED, JSW STEEL LIMITED, JINDAL STEEL LIMITED, STEEL AUTHORITY OF INDIA. 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 10.3% 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 ROE10.8%

What has been driving growth?

Profit has moved mainly because margins changed, not because the business sold much more. Over 3 years revenue moved +3% while net margin moved -60% 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+3%

Margin effect-60%

DalalBaazaar Score

42/ 100

Moderate

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✗ Revenue CAGR of only 1.1% — barely ahead of inflation
✗ Profit has declined at 25.3% a year
✗ Profit fell 38.6% in the latest year

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

34/ 100

Weak

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

Valuation

52/ 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

24.5x

3Y Median

21.5x

34 monthly readings · mean 21.5x · range 15.6x–28.8x

Sector Median

18.2x

median of 4 sector peers

⚠️Current valuation is approximately 14% above its 3y median of 21.5x. Paying more than usual needs a reason — faster growth, a better balance sheet, or a re-rating you believe in.

⚠️Against its sector it trades 34% above the peer median of 18.2x.

vs. its own history

Fair

21.5x median over 34 months · +14%

vs. sector peers

Expensive

18.2x median of 4 peers · +34%

vs. generic bands

Fair

15x–35x

EV/EBITDA

8.5x

PEG

—

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well1

Consistently profitable
Profitable in every one of the last 4 reported years.

🔴 What Needs Attention2

Return on equity is falling
ROE has dropped from 22.6% to 4.5% — each rupee of shareholder capital earns less than it did.
Return on capital is falling
ROCE has declined from 34.3% to 10.3% — often a sign of competition or overexpansion.

Red Flags

5 items require attention · 2 high · 3 watch

🔴Thin interest coverageFinancial
Operating profit covers interest only 1.9x — 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.
🟡Debt is increasingFinancial
Total debt is up 27% over 3 years.
🟡Interest coverage is deterioratingFinancial
Cover has fallen from 2.8x to 1.9x.
🟡Profit is decliningFinancial
Net profit is down 58% 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?

The debt load needs earnings to hold up
Debt is 4.4x EBITDA. At that level a downturn in earnings turns a manageable balance sheet into a refinancing problem, and lenders get paid before shareholders.
A premium to the sector to defend
It trades 34% above the peer median. That premium needs a reason that persists, or it closes.
Growth barely outpaces inflation
Revenue compounding at 1.1% 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.
Returns on shareholder capital are falling
ROE has dropped from 22.6% to 4.5%. 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.
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 2%✓ 3.8%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
2Debt / EBITDA falls below 3x✗ 4.4x
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✗ -₹3 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
4Interest cover stays above 3x✗ 1.9x
How much operating profit can fall before interest stops being comfortably covered.
5Revenue growth stays above 4% a year✗ 1.1% CAGR
Latest reported year was 27.2%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.

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 · 5 neutral · 3 weak

Market Cap

₹185 Cr

Micro Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

24.5x

Fair

Fairly valued against the generic band

P/B Ratio

0.94x

Reasonable

Reasonable against the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹4

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

4.5%

Weak

Weak capital efficiency

ROCE

10.3%

Moderate

Moderate return on the capital in the business

Debt/Equity

0.98x

Moderate

Moderate leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

27.2%

Healthy

Healthy top-line growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

-38.6%

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

-₹3 Cr

Cash burning

Spending more cash than the operations bring in

More Metrics

Operating Margin

2.1%

Weak

Thin margins leave little room for error

Net Margin

0.6%

Weak

Very little revenue reaches the bottom line

Current Ratio

1.25

Comfortable

Healthy short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

0.70

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

Near low

Near its 52-week low

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

108.1 / 110.6

Bearish alignment (short < long)

Price vs SMA 200

Below

Long-term downtrend

RSI (14)

18.9

Oversold zone

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹1,113 Cr	₹1,072 Cr	₹996 Cr	₹1,149 Cr	+1.1%
EBITDA	₹44 Cr	₹46 Cr	₹37 Cr	₹44 Cr	+0.1%
EBITDA Margin	3.9%	4.3%	3.7%	3.8%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹21 Cr	₹18 Cr	₹12 Cr	₹9 Cr	-25.3%
EPS	₹11.11	₹9.34	₹6.21	₹4.64	-25.3%
ROE	22.6%	10.0%	6.3%	4.5%	—
ROCE	34.3%	18.8%	11.1%	10.3%	—
Total Debt	₹152 Cr	₹142 Cr	₹171 Cr	₹193 Cr	+8.2%
Free Cash Flow	-₹4 Cr	-₹26 Cr	-₹31 Cr	-₹3 Cr	—

🟡 Revenue has been broadly flat over 3 years (1.1% a year).

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

🟡 EBITDA Margin has held roughly flat at 3.8% over 3 years.

🔴 PAT (Net Profit) has shrunk at 25.3% a year over 3 years.

🔴 EPS has shrunk at 25.3% a year over 3 years.

🔴 ROE has fallen from 22.6% to 4.5% over 3 years (-18.1 pts).

🔴 ROCE has fallen from 34.3% to 10.3% over 3 years (-24.0 pts).

🔴 Total Debt has grown at 8.2% a year over 3 years.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹439 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹242 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹4 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

₹61 Cr

Capex

-₹64 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

0.0%

Insider Holding

75.0%

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
TATA STEEL LIMITED	19.8x	10.8%
JSW STEEL LIMITED	12.0x	24.7%
JINDAL STEEL LIMITED	39.1x	5.3%
STEEL AUTHORITY OF INDIA	16.5x	7.1%

Recent News

1 positive1 mixed4 general

Vibhor Steel Tubes (VSTL) Share Price near all-time low as VSTL trades at Rs 100.25

Univest, 16 Oct

Markets Rise, But Vibhor Steel Tubes Ltd Slides to All-Time Low Amid Stock-Specific Sell-Off

MarketsMojo, 13 Oct

Vibhor Steel Tubes AGM: Revenue up 15% in FY26 to ₹11,494 crore

scanx.trade, 20 AugResults

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

Vibhor Steel Tubes 52 Week Low Streak Weakness Continues

Univest, 12 Oct

Vibhor Steel Tubes Ltd Key Financial Ratios – Valuation, Profitability & More

Value Research, 01 Sept

Vibhor Steel Tubes Subsidiary Viyom Steel Infra To Acquire Land In Hisar

Sahi, 25 AugM&A

🟡Mixed / dependsAcquisitions change the balance sheet before they change the earnings. Look at what was paid, how it was funded, and whether debt rose.

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

StrongValuation

MiddlingRisk

WeakBusiness Quality · Financial Health · Growth · Profitability

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. 2 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; Revenue growth stays above 4% a year · see Key things to watch ↑