1. At a Glance
Gujarat Alkalies & Chemicals Ltd (GACL) is that PSU uncle who once printed cash during commodity upcycles and is now asking the market for “one more chance, boss.” Market cap sits at ₹3,471 Cr, stock price at ₹473, down ~29% YoY, trading at 0.62× book value — which sounds cheap until you remember book value doesn’t pay EMIs, cash flows do.
Latest Q3 FY26 (Dec 2025) numbers:
- Revenue: ₹1,044 Cr (YoY +13.4%, QoQ -3.6%)
- Operating Margin: ~9% (finally alive again)
- PAT: -₹20 Cr (yes, still negative)
- EPS: -₹2.72
Debt stands at ₹637 Cr, interest coverage is a nervous 1.24×, and ROCE is still negative (-0.34%). But before you throw this into the “PSU Never Ending Story” bucket — there’s a ₹1,030 Cr capex cocktail, renewable power ambitions, phosphoric acid dreams, and green chemistry buzz.
So the big question: Is GACL turning the corner or just repainting the wall? Let’s open the files.
2. Introduction
GACL is not a startup pretending to be profitable in “adjusted EBITDA terms.” This is a 40+ year old PSU chemical manufacturer, deeply embedded in India’s chlor-alkali ecosystem. When caustic soda prices (ECU realizations) smile, GACL smiles. When they crash — FY24 happened.
FY23 was peak party mode. FY24 was the hangover. Margins collapsed from 21% to ~1%, massive capex commissioned earlier decided to behave like non-performing assets, and the company slipped into losses.
Now in FY26, management has returned with a PowerPoint that screams:
- “This time capex will work”
- “Renewable power will save costs”
- “Downstream products = stability”
As analysts, we nod politely… and check the numbers anyway.
3. Business Model – WTF Do They Even Do?
GACL lives in the chlor-alkali universe. The core product is Caustic Soda, and everything else is basically a chemical family tree.
Key products:
- Caustic Soda (44% revenue) – bread & butter
- Chloromethanes (10%) – higher margin, cyclical
- Caustic Potash (7%)
- Phosphoric Acid (7%)
- Hydrogen Peroxide (7%)
- Aluminium Chloride (6%)
- Others (19%)
They serve boring but essential industries: textiles,
