Andhra Sugars Ltd Q1 FY26 + FY25: A 1,000 Cr Market Cap Dinosaur Still Squeezing Sugar, Aspirin & Rocket Fuel
1. At a Glance
Andhra Sugars, founded in 1947, is one of those Indian companies that refuses to die – sugar, aspirin, caustic soda, propellants for ISRO rockets, even captive windmills in Tamil Nadu. If diversification was an Olympic sport, they’d be in the finals. At CMP ₹74.9, the stock trades at a P/E of 18.8, market cap ₹1,015 Cr, and price-to-book of just 0.64x. FY25 sales stood at ₹2,139 Cr with a PAT of ₹53.9 Cr (a tragic 2.5% ROE). The Q1 FY26 numbers looked better though: revenue ₹600 Cr (+25% YoY), PAT ₹26.5 Cr (+79% YoY) – finally some sugar in the tea. Dividend yield is 1.07% and debt is negligible at ₹13 Cr. So, it’s a debt-free dinosaur with low returns, waiting for either ISRO or sugar prices to make it cool again.
2. Introduction
This is not your usual sugar mill. Andhra Sugars is like a government uncle who keeps doing a bit of everything – sugar, chemicals, soaps, drugs, fertilizers, renewable power. If Hindustan Unilever married ISRO and adopted a sugarcane farm, the child would look like Andhra Sugars.
The company started life in Tanuku, Andhra Pradesh, and seven decades later, still makes headlines not for its sugar, but because it supplies solid and liquid propellants to India’s space program. Yes, the same company that makes your aspirin also helps launch satellites. That’s some “from headache to Mars” business model.
And yet, despite this cocktail of businesses, shareholder returns have been bitter. Stock is down –31% in the last year, –18% in three years, and barely 4.4% in five years. Dividend is steady, but capital appreciation? Missing, like sugar stock rallies after elections.
3. Business Model – WTF Do They Even Do?
Andhra Sugars is basically a chemical soup.
Chlor-Alkali (37% of revenue): Caustic soda and potash. Core industrial products, but realisations crashed recently.
Industrial Chemicals (36%): Sulphuric acid, chlorine, hydrochloric acid, aspirin, and even propellants for ISRO. How many sugar mills can say they supply rocket fuel?
Soaps & Oleochemicals (13%): Through Jocil Ltd – stearic acids, fatty acids, glycerine, soaps. Segment has been declining like TV serial TRPs.
Power & Others (6%): Wind power in Tamil Nadu, plus fertilizers and edible oils.
Sugar (8%): Crushing capacity 16,000 TCD but with operations suspended at two units due to cane shortage.
Essentially: one-third soda ash uncle, one-third chemical mama, one-fifth soap aunty, and one small sugarcane farmer.
4. Financials Overview
Source table
Metric
Q1 FY26
Q1 FY25
Q4 FY25
YoY %
QoQ %
Revenue (₹ Cr)
600
480
500
25.0%
20.0%
EBITDA (₹ Cr)
51
11
46
363%
10.8%
PAT (₹ Cr)
26.5
14.8
6.0
78.8%
341%
EPS (₹)
1.9
1.1
0.4
72.7%
375%
Comment: Q1 FY26 is the best sugar rush in years – margins expanded, profits tripled QoQ. Annualising EPS at ~₹7.5, the P/E looks 10x – but careful, sugar quarters are volatile like monsoon rains.
