1. At a Glance
Andrew Yule & Company Ltd (AYCL) is that one government-owned hybrid you can’t quite define — half tea planter, half transformer manufacturer, sprinkled with some pollution control gadgets, and a pinch of bureaucracy for flavour. At ₹25 per share (20 Nov 2025), it sits with a market cap of ₹1,220 crore, a P/E of 252, and an ROE of -7.96% — numbers that scream, “We’re not sure if this is a company or an ancient artifact.”
The company’s Q2FY26 (Sep 2025) revenue fell 20% YoY to ₹71.5 crore, while net profit dropped to nearly zero (₹-0.02 crore). Operating margins were a tragic -6.45%, and other income continues to be the real breadwinner. Its ROCE of -6.83%, current ratio of 0.73, and interest coverage of 0.24 are the corporate equivalent of running a marathon with flip-flops.
Yet — despite all odds — this 106-year-old CPSE still survives, maybe on nostalgia, maybe on subsidies, or maybe because the tea division’s aroma is too strong to quit.
2. Introduction
Let’s be honest — Andrew Yule & Company Ltd is like that government PSU uncle who can talk endlessly about “plans to modernize” while his phone still runs on Symbian OS. Founded in 1919, this company was once a proud managing agency during the Raj, before being nationalized in 1979. Today, it sits awkwardly between manufacturing Darjeeling tea and 63 MVA transformers — because why choose one industry when you can confuse investors with three?
Its divisions — Tea (58%), Engineering (27%), and Electrical (15%) — make it sound like a perfect case study in “Diversification Gone Wild.” The tea estates are spread across Assam, Dooars, and Darjeeling — prime real estate, if only tea prices could pay the bills. The engineering division makes fans, pollution control systems, and centrifugal blowers, while the electrical arm makes transformers that, ironically, don’t seem to transform profits.
In FY25, AYCL continued to sip from both cups — a bitter one of losses and a sweet one of government backing. It reported ₹294 crore in sales, ₹4.84 crore PAT (likely rescued by ₹118 crore other income), and a jaw-dropping EV/EBITDA of 55x. That’s not valuation — that’s optimism in its purest PSU form.
3. Business Model – WTF Do They Even Do?
Andrew Yule’s business model looks like someone rolled dice labeled “tea,” “transformer,” and “turbine.” The result? A three-headed PSU monster:
- Tea Division (58%) – The crown jewel and caffeine donor. With 12 estates in Assam, Dooars, and Darjeeling, AYCL produces orthodox and green teas. They even tried getting fancy with “specialty blends” in FY22, launched by the Ministry of Heavy Industry. Because nothing says innovation like a bureaucrat launching your tea.
- Engineering Division (27%) – Located in Kalyani, West Bengal, this division manufactures fans, electrostatic precipitators, and pollution control products. Their clientele includes industry giants like SAIL, Tata Steel, NTPC, and L&T. The order book stood at ₹55 crore in FY23 — not bad, but also not enough to fund chai breaks across 12 estates.
- Electrical Division (15%) – The Chennai and Kolkata units build transformers ranging from 8 MVA to 63 MVA. Unfortunately, the only thing that seems to be transforming is the patience of investors. With an order book of ₹75 crore as of June 2023 and ₹28 crore added in Q1FY24, this segment has potential — if it ever learns to make profits.
And if you thought
