1. At a Glance
Nile Ltd is a secondary lead manufacturer that supplies pure lead and alloys to battery makers like Exide and Amara Raja. Sounds dull? Sure. But it’s posted a 27% profit CAGR over 5 years with ROCE at 20%. Not dull. Quietly compounding while you were chasing flashy EV IPOs.
2. Introduction with Hook
If businesses were metals, Nile Ltd would be—fittingly—lead. Heavy, industrial, and criminally underrated.
While the world fawns over EV makers, someone’s gotta supply the actual metal for those batteries. Enter Nile, turning used lead into new margins. With a P/E of just 14.3 and FY25 EPS over ₹121, this stock’s hotter than its smelters.
- Key Stat #1: EPS surged from ₹36 (FY20) to ₹121 (FY25)
- Key Stat #2: Operating Profit doubled in 3 years (₹56 Cr in FY25)
3. Business Model (WTF Do They Even Do?)
- Core Biz: Secondary manufacturing of Pure Lead and Lead Alloys
- Customers: Battery makers (like Exide, Amara Raja), PVC stabilizer producers
- Recycling King: Extracts lead from used batteries—think “scrap to smelted”
- Other Activities: Wind power generation (because why not?)
- Certifications: ISO 9001:2015, which basically means they know what they’re doing
Not glamorous. Not sexy. But definitely profitable.
4. Financials Overview
| Metric | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue (₹ Cr) | 806 | 838 | 920 |
| EBITDA (₹ Cr) | 36 | 46 | 56 |
| Net Profit (₹ Cr) | 23 | 31 | 36 |
| EPS (₹) | 75.2 | 103.8 | 121.1 |
| ROE | 14.7% | 15% | 14.7% |
Narrative:
Flat sales growth? Yes. But margin expansion? Absolutely. Nile has quietly gone from margin dust to margin trust.
5. Valuation
- CMP: ₹1,735
- EPS (FY25): ₹121.06
- P/E Range: 10x (bearish) – 18x (bullish)
Fair Value Range:
- Bear Case (10x): ₹1,210
- Base Case (14x): ₹1,695
- Bull Case (18x): ₹2,180
Current P/E at 14.3 = fair. Not a bargain-bin deal, but definitely not overpriced.
6. What’s Cooking – News, Triggers, Drama
- June 2025: CARE reaffirmed A- / A2+ ratings—stable, boring, solid
- Capex on the books: ₹14 Cr CWIP = capacity expansion likely
- Shareholding: Flat, no dilution—very Tata of them
- Risks: Scrap lead prices + battery demand fluctuation + being ignored by analysts
- Growth angle: Rising demand from battery manufacturing = more alloy orders
No scam, no wild announcements, just profitable monotony.
7. Balance Sheet
| Item | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Equity Capital | ₹3 Cr | ₹3 Cr |
| Reserves | ₹227 Cr | ₹262 Cr |
| Borrowings | ₹12 Cr | ₹22 Cr |
| Total Assets | ₹252 Cr | ₹302 Cr |
Takeaways:
- Clean and mean: D/E ratio ~0.08
- Net worth doubled in 5 years
- Cash flow wobbly (see next), but balance sheet? Cast iron.
8. Cash Flow – Sab Number Game Hai
| Segment | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| CFO | ₹25 Cr | ₹-1 Cr |
| CFI | ₹-19 Cr | ₹-14 Cr |
| CFF | ₹-6 Cr | ₹7 Cr |
| Net Cash Flow | ₹0 Cr | ₹-9 Cr |
Interpretation:
Negative operating cash in FY25 = red flag? Maybe. But temporary. Likely working capital surge (inventory, receivables). Still, CFO should bounce back in FY26.
9. Ratios – Sexy or Stressy?
| Ratio | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| ROCE | 19% | 20% |
| ROE | 15% | 14.7% |
| OPM | 6% | 6% |
| Cash Conversion Cycle | 82 days | 91 days |
| Debt/Equity | 0.05 | 0.08 |
Verdict:
Respectable returns, consistent margins, and low debt. Not flamboyant, but this is the kind of risk profile your CA dreams about.
10. P&L Breakdown – Show Me the Money
| Year | Revenue (₹ Cr) | Net Profit (₹ Cr) | EPS | OPM |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY22 | 702 | 24 | ₹79.4 | 6% |
| FY23 | 806 | 23 | ₹75.2 | 4% |
| FY24 | 838 | 31 | ₹103.8 | 6% |
| FY25 | 920 | 36 | ₹121.1 | 6% |
Revenue growth may not excite, but Nile’s focus is on profitable processing not volume vanity.
11. Peer Comparison
| Company | CMP (₹) | P/E | ROCE | ROE | OPM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gravita India | ₹1,723 | 40.7 | 21.6% | 21.5% | 8.4% |
| MOIL | ₹375 | 20.0 | 19.1% | 15.0% | 33.3% |
| GMDC | ₹379 | 17.6 | 14.2% | 11.0% | 22.4% |
| Lloyds Metals | ₹1,488 | 53.7 | 38.3% | 31.5% | 29.1% |
| Nile Ltd | ₹1,735 | 14.3 | 19.8% | 14.7% | 6.0% |
Insight:
Cheapest stock on P/E, decent ROCE, and steady ops. Gravita gets all the headlines, but Nile’s quietly outperforming on capital efficiency.
12. Miscellaneous – Shareholding, Promoters
- Promoters: 50.39% (consistent, no pledges)
- FIIs: Just 0.16%—India-only fanbase
- Retail/Public: 49.4%, steadily increasing
- No. of Shareholders: Grown from 6K to 11.5K in 2 years = attention rising
- Dividend Yield: 0.23% (symbolic but consistent)
Sleepy cap table, but that’s often a good thing—fewer players to mess it up.
13. EduInvesting Verdict™
Nile Ltd is what you get when a company says “nah” to hype and “yes” to fundamentals. You won’t find it in most fund manager portfolios, but with 27% profit CAGR and growing lead demand, it deserves a spot on every serious smallcap watchlist.
It’s not a unicorn. It’s a tortoise—with a balance sheet shield, efficient returns, and a quiet ambition to stay profitable in every cycle.
Yes, cash flow dip in FY25 is worth watching. But unless you think batteries are going out of fashion, Nile’s lead play is very much alive.
Metadata
– Written by EduInvesting Team | July 17, 2025
– Tags: Nile Ltd, Pure Lead, Battery Components, Smallcap Metal Stocks, Gravita Peer, Low P/E Stocks, Lead Recycler, Value Picks, EduInvesting Premium
