1. At a Glance – Blink and You’ll Miss the Drama
Sudarshan Colorants India Ltd (formerly Heubach Colorants India) is a ₹905 crore market-cap pigment player trading at ~₹389, down 34% in six months and 23% in just three months—basically the stock equivalent of slipping on a banana peel in slow motion.
Latest quarterly numbers? Sales at ₹175.7 crore (YoY down 17.5%), PAT at –₹2 crore (YoY down 52%, and yes, negative), and EPS at –₹0.87. Meanwhile, promoters quietly increased their stake from 54.37% to 70.26% via an open offer at ₹602, which now looks… ambitious.
Debt is negligible at ₹24 crore, ROCE stands at 15.2%, P/E (TTM) at ~15x, and EV/EBITDA around 7.3x. On paper, this looks reasonable. On the chart, it looks like regret.
So what’s going on—temporary pigment headache or long-term colour fading? Let’s open the paint can.
2. Introduction – Same Factory, New Nameplate, New Headaches
Founded in 1956, this company has outlived most Indian corporates, several CEOs, and probably a few pigment shades that are no longer fashionable. It used to be Clariant Chemicals (India), then became Heubach Colorants India, and now is morphing into Sudarshan Colorants India Ltd—because nothing says “strategic clarity” like multiple name changes in three years.
The business itself is straightforward: high-performance pigments for plastics, coatings, inks, and specialty applications. The problem? Straightforward businesses don’t get away with messy execution anymore.
FY25 sales were ₹825 crore, FY26 TTM slipped to ₹790 crore, and quarterly volatility has become a regular guest. Add exceptional losses (₹1,280 lakh) and a fire loss (₹1,032 lakh) in Q3 FY26, and suddenly your colour palette is fifty shades of grey.
But before we judge, let’s
understand what they actually do.
3. Business Model – WTF Do They Even Do?
Think of Sudarshan Colorants as the colour backbone of industrial India. If something is painted, printed, dyed, or tinted—and isn’t handmade in Dilli Haat—there’s a chance their pigment is inside.
Two main verticals:
1. Plastics & Coatings (~95% of FY23 revenue)
Pigments, preparations, additives, masterbatches—used in:
- Automotive & architectural paints
- Plastic packaging, wires & cables
- Industrial coatings and construction materials
2. Specialty Chemicals (~5%)
Dyestuffs, resins, functional chemicals—smaller, niche, but margin-relevant.
They serve home & personal care, agro, printing inks, packaging, footwear, fibers, security inks, etc. Basically, if it needs colour consistency at scale, they show up.
Manufacturing facilities span Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Madhya Pradesh, with exports contributing ~36% of revenue.
Business model verdict: solid, boring, global-adjacent. Which means execution matters. A lot.
4. Financials Overview – Numbers Don’t Lie, But They Do Roast
| Metric | Latest Qtr | YoY Qtr | Prev Qtr | YoY % | QoQ % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue (₹ Cr) | 175.67 | 212.98 | 183.14 | -17.5% | -4.1% |
| EBITDA (₹ Cr) | 11.30 | 24.94 | 17.80 | -54.7% | -36.5% |
| PAT (₹ Cr) | -2.00 | 17.22 | 16.29 | -111.6% | -112.3% |
| EPS (₹) | -0.87 | 7.46 | 7.06 | – | – |
Commentary:
This quarter was not a stumble—it was a full-on slip, roll, and face-plant. Operating margins compressed to 6.4%, exceptional items wiped out
