Dhunseri Ventures Ltd Q2FY26: From Cupcakes to Capex – How a 100-Year-Old Kolkata Company is Baking a Polyfilm Future with a Frosting of Chaos

1. At a Glance

A century-old business empire juggling cupcakes, plastic films, and treasury investments—welcome to Dhunseri Ventures Ltd (DVL), where diversification is both the strategy and the survival mechanism. As of November 2025, DVL trades at ₹310 per share, boasting a market cap of ₹1,085 crore, P/E ratio of 16.2x, and a book value of ₹911. Despite looking dirt-cheap on paper with a price-to-book of just 0.33x, the market seems unconvinced—perhaps because the company’s portfolio swings between polymer plants and pastry shops.

The latest quarterly results (Q2FY26) delivered a bittersweet punch: Sales of ₹81.9 crore, down 44.8% YoY, and a loss of ₹10.7 crore, tanking profits by 116%. The cherry on top? An impairment of ₹26.25 crore for its Singapore-based subsidiary, Twelve Cupcakes Pte Ltd. So, while the cupcakes collapsed, the board approved a fresh ₹190 crore capex for Panagarh’s BOPET expansion, because why not bake more plastic when the frosting burns?

2. Introduction

Dhunseri Ventures is what happens when an old-money Marwari family meets modern-day portfolio theory and a sweet tooth. Born in 1916, back when British India was busy inventing bureaucracy, DVL today juggles treasury investments, commodity trading, food & beverages (via cupcakes), and polyester film manufacturing.

But 2025 hasn’t been kind to DVL. The cupcake dream melted faster than ice cream in Chennai summer—its Singapore subsidiary was sent for a creditors’ voluntary winding-up. Meanwhile, the company’s plastic film unit, Dhunseri Poly Films Pvt. Ltd. (DPFPL), quietly kept expanding—launching its BOPET line at Panagarh and planning a BOPP line in Jammu & Kashmir.

In short: one arm bakes cupcakes that got burnt, another rolls out BOPET sheets, and the treasury arm keeps counting the money hoping one of these ventures will eventually stick.

So, dear reader, if you ever wondered what a company looks like when it invests in both frosting and film extrusion—this one’s your case study.

3. Business Model – WTF Do They Even Do?

Imagine your neighbourhood uncle who trades shares, sells plastic, and opens a cupcake shop abroad—that’s DVL’s business model. It operates in four main verticals:

Treasury Operations:
The financial equivalent of keeping your money in stocks and calling it a business. DVL invests in shares, securities, and corporate bodies—earning dividends, interest, and fair-value gains (or losses, depending on market mood swings).
Trading:
They dabble in commodity trading, especially PET resin, a core ingredient for plastic packaging. It’s not glamorous, but it pays the bills.
Food & Beverages:
Through its foreign subsidiary Twelve Cupcakes Pte Ltd., based in Singapore, DVL went on a sugary adventure. The brand ran cupcake stores across the island and even dreamed of U.S. expansion via DVL USA Inc. Unfortunately, reality tasted stale—losses piled up, and the board decided to wind up the cupcake entity in late 2025.
Flexible Packaging Films:
The crown jewel now—Dhunseri Poly Films Pvt. Ltd. manufactures BOPET (Biaxially Oriented Polyethylene Terephthalate) films. Their Panagarh plant began production in December 2023, and the company plans to add a BOPP (Polypropylene) line in J&K, with groundwork starting July–August 2024.

Basically, DVL’s portfolio looks like a buffet: a little financial salad, a plastic main course, and a dessert that went bankrupt.

4. Financials Overview

Consolidated Quarterly Snapshot (₹ crore)

Metric	Latest Qtr (Sep’25)	YoY Qtr (Sep’24)	Prev Qtr (Jun’25)	YoY %	QoQ %
Revenue	81.9	148	173	-44.8%	-52.7%
EBITDA	-44	47	83	-194%	-153%
PAT	-10.7	68	71	-116%	-115%
EPS (₹)	-3.05	19.36	20.36	-116%	-115%

Figures from Screener, consolidated; EPS annualized basis not meaningful due to losses.

Commentary:
This quarter’s numbers look like a post-party hangover. Revenue halved, operating margin crashed to -54%, and the net loss wiped off the previous quarter’s cupcakes and then some. If you’re wondering whether “Operating Profit” is a typo—no, it’s just negative, like the company’s mood post-impairment.

5. Valuation Discussion – Fair Value Range

Let’s do some valuation math before the frosting hardens.

(a) P/E Method

FY25 EPS = ₹19.1
Industry PE (Diversified) = 24.9x
Company PE = 16.2x

→ Fair Value Range = ₹19.1 × (15x–25x) = ₹286 – ₹478 per share.

(b) EV/EBITDA Method

EV = ₹1,256 crore
EBITDA (TTM) = -₹33 crore (negative, so use normalized FY24 EBITDA ₹63 crore)
→ EV/EBITDA = 19.9x

Industry avg ~10x, so fair EV range = ₹630–₹1,260 crore → per share ₹155–₹310.

(c) DCF Estimate

Assume normalized FCF of ₹50 crore, growth 5%, WACC 12%
→ Value = ₹50 × (1+0.05)/(0.12–0.05) = ₹750 crore → per share ≈ ₹214.

Educational Fair Value Range: ₹214 – ₹478

(For educational purposes only. Not investment advice. Cupcake losses not discounted yet.)

6. What’s Cooking – News, Triggers, Drama

It’s been a spicy 2025:

October 2025: Board took a ₹26.25 crore impairment for Twelve Cupcakes. That’s a lot of frosting down the drain.
Same month: The board approved a ₹190 crore infusion for Panagarh BOPET Phase I expansion. From frosting to films, the focus shifted to scalable assets.
July 2025: Foundation stone laid for BOPP plant in Jammu & Kashmir – the most politically charged polymer project ever.
Earlier: Dhunseri Investments (promoter) acquired 8.79% stake from Naga Dhunseri Group, consolidating control at

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