1. At a Glance
Nilkamal Ltd is Asia’s largest processor of plastic moulded furniture and India’s favorite marriage hall chair manufacturer turned material handling maestro. With a ₹2,585 Cr market cap and 64.5% promoter holding, this 40-year-old company is trying to reinvent itself — slowly and steadily, like a chair resisting a shaadi buffet load.
2. Introduction with Hook
Imagine your dadi’s plastic chair suddenly morphing into a warehouse automation solution with ASRS (Automated Storage & Retrieval Systems). Welcome to the Nilkamal transformation story.
- Sales have crawled from ₹1,737 Cr in FY14 to ₹3,313 Cr in FY25
- Net Profit for FY25: ₹107 Cr
- EPS down from ₹89.76 in FY23 to ₹71.32 in FY25 (ouch)
The company has a stable base but suffers from… how do we say this politely… a serious speed deficiency when it comes to growth.
3. Business Model (WTF Do They Even Do?)
Nilkamal operates across 3 major verticals:
- Plastic Division: Moulded furniture, Ready Furniture, and Mattresses. World’s largest moulded furniture maker — the IKEA of Indian weddings.
- BubbleGUARD Division: Honeycomb-structured boards for packaging, printing, and protection. No, it’s not a Marvel shield.
- Material Handling Division: Crates, bins, pallets, forklifts, shelving, and ASRS. Their pitch? “We’ll move your stuff so you don’t have to.”
Recent acquisition: Healthcare furniture vertical of Imedfurns for ₹3 Cr — payable over 4 years. That’s less than a Mumbai 1BHK rent.
4. Financials Overview
Let’s break it down.
| FY | Sales (₹ Cr) | OPM % | PAT (₹ Cr) | EPS (₹) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 2,092 | 12% | 113 | 75.68 |
| 2022 | 2,730 | 8% | 83 | 55.86 |
| 2023 | 3,131 | 10% | 134 | 89.76 |
| 2024 | 3,196 | 9% | 122 | 81.92 |
| 2025 | 3,313 | 9% | 107 | 71.32 |
- Gross margins fluctuate like your weight after Diwali
- EPS has been on a mild diet
- Dividend payout improved to 28% in FY25
5. Valuation
Current Price: ₹1,740
P/E: 24.4
Book Value: ₹997
Price/Book: ~1.75x
Fair Value Range Estimate:
- DCF-based conservative FV: ₹1,600
- EV/EBITDA method (industry avg 12x): ₹1,800
- Bullish Sum-of-Parts (Plastic + BubbleGUARD + MHE): ₹2,100
EduFair Value™ Range: ₹1,600 – ₹2,100
Not underpriced, not overpriced — just like your cousin’s arranged marriage. Looks okay on paper.
6. What’s Cooking – News, Triggers, Drama
- Acquired Imedfurns healthcare vertical (₹3 Cr, staggered)
- BRSR report filed — they care about ESG now, or at least say they do
- Focus on ramping up automation via ASRS systems
- Domestic manufacturing sentiment helping the Material Handling vertical
Watchlist:
- Could be a decent “China+1” play for industrial storage
- Domestic logistics infra boom = tailwind
- Mattress and furniture category faces intense competition (from the likes of Wakefit, Pepperfry, IKEA)
7. Balance Sheet
| Metric | FY25 (₹ Cr) |
|---|---|
| Total Assets | 2,544 |
| Equity Capital | 15 |
| Reserves | 1,472 |
| Borrowings | 531 |
| Other Liabilities | 527 |
| Fixed Assets (incl. CWIP) | 1,011 |
| Investments | 47 |
| Other Assets | 1,487 |
Key Observations:
- Borrowings up to ₹531 Cr (from ₹351 Cr in FY23)
- CWIP swelling (₹75 Cr) — capex for something big brewing
- Clean balance sheet. Nothing shady under the plastic mat.
8. Cash Flow – Sab Number Game Hai
| FY | CFO | CFI | CFF | Net Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | ₹190 Cr | -₹164 Cr | -₹71 Cr | -₹45 Cr |
| 2024 | ₹250 Cr | -₹156 Cr | -₹32 Cr | ₹62 Cr |
| 2025 | ₹247 Cr | -₹224 Cr | ₹34 Cr | ₹57 Cr |
Highlights:
- Healthy operational cash generation
- Heavy reinvestment in assets (CFI)
- Net debt going up, but still manageable
9. Ratios – Sexy or Stressy?
| Ratio | FY25 | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| ROCE | 10% | Not a head-turner |
| ROE | 7.3% | Meh |
| Inventory Days | 133 | High |
| Cash Conversion Cycle | 127 days | Sticky situation |
| Dividend Yield | 1.15% | Better than FD? Barely. |
| Debt/Equity | ~0.36x | Under control |
Verdict: Ratios are decent — not red flags, but not fireworks either.
10. P&L Breakdown – Show Me the Money
| FY | Sales | EBITDA | PAT | EPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 2,092 | 256 | 113 | 75.68 |
| 2022 | 2,730 | 224 | 83 | 55.86 |
| 2023 | 3,131 | 312 | 134 | 89.76 |
| 2024 | 3,196 | 294 | 122 | 81.92 |
| 2025 | 3,313 | 286 | 107 | 71.32 |
Profit is not compounding like an FD, but at least they aren’t in freefall. Operating margins stable around 9–10%.
11. Peer Comparison
| Company | CMP | P/E | ROE | OPM |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nilkamal | ₹1,740 | 24.4 | 7.3% | 9% |
| Safari | ₹2,200 | 76.7 | 15.8% | 12.7% |
| VIP | ₹480 | N/A | -11.8% | 3.8% |
| Wim Plast | ₹527 | 9.8 | 12.5% | 17.1% |
Takeaway: Safari is growth king, Nilkamal is the boring uncle, and VIP is crying in the corner.
12. Miscellaneous – Shareholding, Promoters
- Promoters hold a solid 64.54%
- DIIs reduced stake to 14.38%
- FIIs don’t care (holding just 1%)
- Retail public? Holding 20%, maybe for the dividend and nostalgia
No major pledges, no scandals. Good boy stock.
13. EduInvesting Verdict™
Nilkamal Ltd is like that one relative who’s always present, always stable, but never particularly exciting. The company has built a moat in plastic furniture, dabbled in storage solutions, and is trying to stay relevant in modern India.
There’s no explosive story here. No “next HDFC Bank” dreams. But there’s consistency, governance, and decent dividends — which in smallcaps, is already a win.
Verdict: If this stock were a chair, it wouldn’t be flashy — but it’d never break under pressure either.
Metadata
Written by EduGPT | 17 July 2025
Tags: Nilkamal Ltd, Plastic Furniture, ASRS, Material Handling, EduInvesting Style, Smallcap Stocks, Dividend Stocks, Warehouse Automation
