Kothari Industrial Corporation Q1FY26 – “From Fertilizers to Drones to Hotels: India’s OG Conglomerate Turned Stand-up Meme”
1. At a Glance
Meet Kothari Industrial Corporation Ltd (KICL) – a company with more business pivots than your neighbourhood chaiwala who turned into a momo vendor post-COVID. CMP is ₹527 with a ₹4,943 Cr market cap, up 1,886% in one year (yes, you read that right). The balance sheet, however, is still allergic to profits – FY25 sales of ₹112 Cr with ₹-18 Cr PAT. ROE = -17.2%, ROCE = -13.7%, and OPM a glorious -13%. Book value is ₹19.5, so the stock trades at 27x P/B. It’s basically Tesla valuation on a company that sells rusk, drones, and sometimes fertilizers.
2. Introduction
Once upon a time in 1970, Kothari was a fertilizer company. Fast forward to today, and it is a full-blown identity crisis. Fertilizers? Leased out to Coromandel. FMCG? Making rusks and cookies like a small-town bakery. Healthcare? Hand sanitizers and masks during COVID. Hotels? Why not. Drones? Sure, add some AI buzzwords and investors will lap it up.
The stock went from ₹27 to ₹625 in a year – a multibagger story that screams “operator-driven” louder than a Bollywood villain’s evil laugh. The business mix is chaos – fertilizers 31%, FMCG 32%, hotels 22%, drones 14% (FY23 revenue split). Basically, every new trend, they’re in. If India’s next big theme is selling space dosa on Mars, Kothari will issue a press release tomorrow.
Question for you: When was the last time you saw a company doing fertilizer + drones + cookies + hotels under one roof?
3. Business Model – WTF Do They Even Do?
Fertilizers: Old Ennore plant shut due to raw material shortage. Now leased to Coromandel. Kothari earns rental and some small production.
FMCG & Health: Launched sanitizers, face masks during COVID. Added biscuits, rusks, cookies. Basically competing with Parle-G, but with balance sheet losses.
Hotels: Entered hospitality to diversify. Because nothing says “fertilizer company” like running a 3-star hotel near the highway.
Drones: Newest gamble – manufacturing & marketing drones. Perhaps to spray fertilizers on fields or deliver rusks to your balcony.
In short, the business model is “try everything, stick to nothing, issue press release, raise equity.”
4. Financials Overview
Source table
Metric
Latest Qtr (Q1FY26)
YoY Qtr (Q1FY25)
Prev Qtr (Q4FY25)
YoY %
QoQ %
Revenue (₹ Cr)
39.2
13.5
26.4
191%
48%
EBITDA (₹ Cr)
-0.47
0.38
-14.1
NA
96%
PAT (₹ Cr)
-1.92
0.27
-13.0
NA
85%
EPS (₹)
-0.20
0.22
-1.40
NA
86%
Commentary: Revenue up like a rocket, profits still underground. Annualised EPS = negative, so P/E is “not meaningful”. But the market doesn’t care – stock trades at 44x sales!
👉 Question: Do you trust this growth, or is it just “Jugaad Economics Ltd”?
