1. At a Glance
Andhra Sugars Limited is that old-school uncle of Indian industry—founded in 1947, diversified before diversification became fashionable, and still stubbornly alive across chemicals, sugar, soaps, propellants, power, and aspirin. At a market cap of ~₹998 Cr and a stock price hovering around ₹73.7, the company trades at 9.1x P/E and 0.73x book value, which screams “cheap” until you notice ROE sulking at 3.4% like it skipped leg day for five years straight.
The latest Q3 FY26 numbers, however, woke the stock from its siesta. Quarterly sales came in at ₹370 Cr, up 25.5% YoY, while PAT jumped 194% YoY to ₹25 Cr. Operating margins rebounded to ~13–15% territory after flirting dangerously with single digits earlier. Debt is practically extinct at ₹2 Cr, interest coverage is a heroic 56x, and promoter holding quietly increased to ~50.5%.
So what is Andhra Sugars today—deep value, cyclical mirage, or a forgotten chemical compound waiting to react? Let’s put on the lab coat and investigate.
2. Introduction
If Indian stock markets were Netflix genres, Andhra Sugars would sit under “Slow Burn with Occasional Plot Twists.” For decades, the company delivered steady dividends, reasonable profits, and zero excitement. Then came the last few years—volatile chemical prices, weak sugar economics, soap business pain, and ROCE collapsing from mid-teens to low single digits.
Yet, just when most investors stopped paying attention, Q3 FY26 dropped like a surprise remix—profits exploded, margins improved, and capacity expansions started contributing. Suddenly, the company looks statistically cheap in a sector where peers trade at 15–60x P/E.
But here’s the catch: Andhra Sugars is not a pure-play chemical darling. It’s a conglomerate smoothie—chlor-alkali, industrial chemicals, sugar, soaps, propellants, power—each with different cycles, margins, and mood swings. When one segment shines, another sulks.
So the real question isn’t “Is it cheap?”
It’s “Can it ever be consistently good?”
Before answering that, let’s decode what this company actually does.
3. Business Model – WTF Do They Even Do?
Explaining Andhra Sugars is like explaining a South Indian thali to someone
who eats only pizza. Everything is there—just not in equal quantities.
🧪 Chlor-Alkali (37% of FY24 revenue)
This is the backbone. Caustic soda, caustic potash, and co-products. Commodity chemicals. Price takers. When caustic soda realizations fall, this segment sulks hard. Between FY22 and FY24, segment revenue declined ~6%, not due to volume, but because prices decided to behave like crypto.
⚗️ Industrial Chemicals (36%)
Sulphuric acid, hydrochloric acid, chlorine, industrial alcohol—and the cool part—solid and liquid rocket propellants supplied to ISRO. Yes, your boring balance sheet company literally helps rockets leave Earth. Revenue grew modestly (~4% over FY22–FY24), driven by higher ISRO offtake.
🧼 Soap & Oleochemicals (13%)
Handled via subsidiary Jocil Ltd. This segment has been the company’s emotional baggage—revenue down 26% in two years due to weak demand and margin pressure. Think FMCG without the glamour or pricing power.
⚡ Power Generation & Others (6%)
Wind power in Tamil Nadu, fertilizers, bulk drugs, edible oils. This is the “miscellaneous drawer” of the business.
🍬 Sugar (8%)
Three sugar units with 16,000 TCD capacity, though two are currently suspended due to cane shortage. Despite that, sugar segment revenue grew 24% between FY22 and FY24, helped by better realizations.
So yes—this is a chemical company pretending to be diversified, or a diversified company pretending to be chemical. Which one matters more? Let’s check the numbers.
4. Financials
