01 — At a Glance
The Coatings Unicorn That Thought It Was A Real Estate Developer
- 52-Week High / Low₹111 / ₹55.8
- Q3 FY26 Revenue₹291 Cr
- Q3 FY26 PAT₹32.3 Cr
- TTM EPS₹3.09
- Latest Annual EPS (FY25)₹3.47
- Book Value / Share₹22.0
- Price to Book2.60x
- OPM (Ttm)14.0%
- ROCE23.3%
- Promoter Holding69.0%
Flash Summary: Grauer & Weil delivered Q3 FY26 PAT of ₹32.3 crore but profit fell 25% QoQ because Q2 was unusually chunky (₹39 Cr). More importantly: on March 21, 2025, the Bombay High Court upheld the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board’s closure of Growel’s 101 shopping mall. The mall has been shut since. CARE Ratings put the company’s AA- rating on “watch with developing implications.” The company is now appealing to the Supreme Court. The stock is down 37% in 12 months. Value trap or opportunity? Depends on how many coatings contracts you can sign while fighting the courts.
02 — Introduction
The Surface Finisher That Wanted To Be Everything Else Too
Grauer & Weil (India) Limited was founded in 1940. It was originally set up by two British nationals — you guessed it, Grauer and Weil. In 1969, the More family took over. And then in 1991, the More family had a dramatic split with the Goenka family over — we’re guessing — something deep and personal. The Mores kept Growel. The rest is electroplating chemistry history.
Here’s the thing: Growel did ONE thing exceptionally well. It makes electroplating chemicals. Surface finishes. Metal coatings. The kind of stuff that makes your car bumpers shiny and your aircraft frames un-rusted. They have 35% market share in domestic electroplating chemicals. That’s dominance. They’ve been certified AS 9100 — which is aerospace-grade manufacturing. They work on everything from home appliances to defence contracts to gems and jewellery.
But then, around 2015, someone in the More family looked at a 1.2 lakh square feet plot of real estate in Kandivali (Mumbai suburbs) and said: “You know what this needs? A shopping mall. With a cinema. And restaurants. And a gaming zone.” And thus, Growel’s 101 was born. A monument to diversification. A temple to the idea that if you’re good at one business, you’re probably good at 47 others.
The Plot Twist: On March 21, 2025, the Bombay High Court upheld the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board’s directions to PERMANENTLY CLOSE Growel’s 101 mall. The reasoning: it was causing air pollution in the area. Yes, a shopping mall. Polluting the air. The company has filed a petition in the Supreme Court. CARE Ratings has placed the company on rating watch with developing implications. Essentially, nobody knows what happens next, so they’re watching closely.
03 — Business Model: Master Of One, Jack Of Many
When Electroplating Chemicals Meet Entertainment Malls (Badly)
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