1. At a Glance
Welcome to the Ruby Mills Ltd (RML) circus – a company that started in 1917 (yes, before India’s independence) and still manages to combine two of India’s most drama-filled industries: Textiles and Real Estate.
Market cap: ₹760 Cr. CMP: ₹226. One-year return: –20% (redder than Lal Quila). Five-year return: +22% (only slightly better than FD). P/E = 16.7 vs industry 22.2. ROE = 5.7% (flatter than my Dosa on a bad day). Debt = ₹328 Cr (half of net worth).
Quarterly revenue = ₹69.6 Cr. PAT = ₹12.1 Cr. YoY growth = +37%. But before you clap, remember: this company has more ED (not the stock market type, the Enforcement Directorate type) investigations than fashion brands in Lakme Fashion Week.
2. Introduction
Ruby Mills is like that old Bollywood actor still trying to stay relevant. Born in 1917, it made fabrics for generations, built real estate in Mumbai, and in between got tangled in enough legal disputes to inspire 3 seasons of a Netflix courtroom drama.
On one side, it has a 1.25 lakh meter/day textile plant in Khopoli (Raigad), weaving cotton, polyester, viscose, linen and all the exotic fibres you pretend to know when you buy clothes. On the other, it has prime real estate at Dadar (Mumbai) – a tower called The Ruby, which houses Axis Bank, EY, and half the city’s lawyers fighting cases against Ruby itself.
Revenue split: 87% textiles, 13% real estate. Geography: 98% domestic, 2% exports. Translation: “Global brand” only when NRIs buy shirts.
But the real kicker? Dues from developers are still at ₹536 Cr, legal disputes drag on, ED has attached ₹2.6 Cr in bank accounts, and promoters are as silent as SRK during Zero promotions.
Question for you: would you buy a 100-year-old mill that looks more like a real estate holding company stuck in courtroom drama?
3. Business Model – WTF Do They Even Do?
Detective auditor hat on 🕵️. Ruby Mills has four avatars:
- Fabric (Ruby Fabrics, Lukas, Hitline, Label): Cotton, polyester, viscose, linen, modal – basically everything you’ll find in a Zara tag minus the premium. Huge network: 200 dealers, 19 agents, 10,000+ outlets. If you’ve worn a uniform or a kurta, chances are Ruby fabric brushed your skin.
- Interlining (Star product): Collars, cuffs, waistbands – the invisible “supporting actors” of garments. Ruby is India’s leader in micro-dot fusible interlining. Fun fact: their biggest USP is being vertically integrated. So yes, your shirt’s stiff collar has 100 years of Ruby DNA in it.
- Apparel: Bulk orders for healthcare, corporate, defence, uniforms. Imagine 10,000 nurses wearing scrubs – Ruby probably stitched it.
- Real Estate: Here’s where the spice is. The Dadar Ruby Tower has tenants like EY, SVC Bank, Axis Bank. Development rights, sale deeds, and occupancy certificates keep showing up in annual reports like recurring villains in daily soaps.
So Ruby isn’t just a textile mill. It’s half mill, half real estate landlord, and one full-time courtroom
