1. At a Glance – Small Cap, Big Drama, Tiny Profits
Market Cap: ₹136 Cr.
Current Price: ₹228.
3-Month Return: -12.3%.
P/E: 8.92.
Price to Book: 0.39 (Yes, below half book value).
ROE: 6.27%.
ROCE: 7.04%.
Latest Quarterly Results (Q3 FY26 – Dec 2025):
Sales: ₹10.41 Cr
Operating Profit: ₹-3.33 Cr
PAT: ₹-0.61 Cr
EPS: ₹-1.03
Let that sink in. A company trading at less than half its book value, reporting negative operating margins of -31.99%, and yet showing a trailing P/E of 8.92. How? Because last year it sold assets and booked juicy “Other Income.”
Indian Card Clothing Company Ltd is that classic small-cap story where real estate does the heavy lifting while the actual manufacturing business gasps for oxygen. The market is confused. Investors are confused. And maybe the management is… reorganizing.
Is this deep value? Or deep trouble wrapped in book value comfort?
Let’s open the carding machine and see what’s stuck inside.
2. Introduction – From Textile Tools to Property Deals
Founded in 1975, Indian Card Clothing Company (ICC) lives in a very specific niche: card clothing. No, not fashion. Not clothing. This is metal wire equipment fitted onto carding machines used in textile mills.
In simple words: before cotton becomes thread, it gets combed. ICC sells the comb.
The company manufactures:
- Cylinder wires
- Doffer wires
- Lickerin wires
- Flat tops
- Card room machinery
And sells them to textile mills across India and exports (~37% exports, ~63% domestic in FY23).
Sounds industrial. Sounds steady.
But here’s the twist: ICC is also into real estate. And over the last few years, real estate and investment gains have been more exciting than its textile hardware business.
In FY25, PAT was ₹92 Cr.
But wait — “Other Income” was ₹121 Cr.
Core manufacturing margins? Negative.
If you’re an investor, here’s the real question: Are you buying a textile tools company or a real estate liquidation machine?
And more importantly — once the assets are sold, what’s left?
3. Business Model – WTF Do They Even Do?
Let’s break this down like we’re explaining it to your overconfident cousin who just discovered small caps.
Core Business – Card Clothing
Textile mills use carding machines to clean and align fibers. These machines need specialized metallic wires and tops.
ICC manufactures:
- Primus, Tenace, Crystal Series cylinder wires
- Aero and Serrated doffers
- Nextratops and Turbine TOPS (new design in FY23)
- Card room machinery
This is a B2B industrial niche. Low glamour. Moderate competition. Dependence on textile sector capex.
