Polson Ltd — the 125-year-old vintage company that’s been tanning hides since before your great-grandfather could spell “synthetic organic.” This BSE-listed relic, trading around ₹11,690 a pop, proudly boasts a market cap of ₹140 crore and still sells eco-friendly leather chemicals to an ungrateful world that now wears vegan shoes. For a company this old, it still manages to look alive — ₹21.56 crore in quarterly sales and ₹1.22 crore in net profit for Q2 FY26, up about 6% QoQ.
Stock P/E? 27.5. ROE? Just 3.83%. Basically, the money returns slower than your online refund from a shady e-commerce site. Still, Polson is that grumpy old man of Indian specialty chemicals — not fast, not flashy, but stubbornly consistent. With promoters holding 75%, debt under control (₹37.8 crore), and exports forming 58% of FY23 revenue, this company might not roar — but it quietly purrs from the Western Ghats.
2. Introduction
Welcome to the Polson universe — where the smell of leather is strong, profits are mild, and patience is a mandatory virtue. Incorporated in 1900, Polson started when horses ruled the roads and telegrams were the Internet. Fast forward to 2025, and it’s still surviving, manufacturing tanning chemicals — the very soul of the leather industry.
While startups burn through VC cash faster than chai in a Mumbai office, Polson grinds quietly, mixing caustic chemicals and exporting them to global clients who still believe in quality over quantity.
But let’s be real — the company isn’t growing like your favorite smallcap multibagger fantasies. In fact, sales growth over 5 years is a disappointing -0.72%. However, profit growth TTM jumped 13%, proving that old-school manufacturing can still throw surprises.
Think of Polson as that ancient scooter that coughs, wheezes, but somehow still gets you to the destination — just not on time.
3. Business Model – WTF Do They Even Do?
Polson’s business is as niche as it gets — manufacturing synthetic organic tanning substances. That’s fancy chemistry talk for “stuff that helps turn animal hides into shiny leather jackets.”
Their secret sauce lies in vegetable-based tannin extracts — more sustainable and less pollutant than traditional chromium-based tanning. Basically, they’re trying to make leather a bit more “woke.”
Product categories include:
Caustic Chemicals – Strong stuff, makes or breaks the tanning process.
Incapacitating Agents & Pulmonary Chemicals – No, not for James Bond villains. These are industrial-use intermediates.
Sulfur Mustard & Biotoxins – The names sound dangerous enough to scare your compliance officer, but they’re legitimate industrial derivatives.
Exports make up ~58% of sales, showing Polson is more global than it appears. They sell in markets that value old-school craftsmanship — likely Italy, Korea, and other leather-loving regions.
So yes, they make chemicals for tanning, but not the fake salon type — real “hide to handbag” stuff.
4. Financials Overview
Let’s decode the numbers from Q2 FY26 (quarter ended Sept 2025):
Metric
Latest Qtr (Sep 25)
YoY Qtr (Sep 24)
Prev Qtr (Jun 25)
YoY %
QoQ %
Revenue (₹ Cr)
21.56
21.16
23.55
+1.9%
-8.4%
EBITDA (₹ Cr)
3.55
3.68
3.74
-3.5%
-5.1%
PAT (₹ Cr)
1.22
1.15
1.23
+6.1%
-0.8%
EPS (₹)
61.0
57.5
61.5
+6.1%
-0.8%
Commentary: Sales inching forward by 1.9% YoY is like watching paint dry. But at least PAT held up — ₹1.22 crore, with an EPS of ₹61. Margins are stable at ~16%, which, given the industry’s volatility, deserves a slow clap. The company runs lean — fewer moving parts, fewer surprises.
5. Valuation Discussion – Fair Value Range
Let’s check three valuation angles:
(a) P/E Method: EPS (TTM) = ₹255 Industry P/E = 28.8 Fair Value Range = 255 × (25–30) = ₹6,375 – ₹7,650
(b) EV/EBITDA Method: EV = ₹177 Cr | EBITDA (TTM) = ₹16.7 Cr EV/EBITDA = 10.6× (current) If re-rated to 8×–12× (industry normal), fair value = ₹134–₹201 Cr → Per share ≈ ₹11,000 – ₹16,000
(c) DCF (Simplified): Assume 4% CAGR in FCF, 10% cost of capital. Intrinsic range = ₹10,500 – ₹12,000 per share.
Educational Fair Value Range:₹10,500 – ₹12,500 (This fair value range is for educational purposes only and is not investment advice.)
6. What’s Cooking – News, Triggers, Drama
The last headline-worthy event wasn’t a product launch — it was the demise of Director Smt. Sushila Jagdish Kapadia in Dec 2023, a reminder of how old and legacy-driven this firm is.
Recent boardroom shuffle: M/s Mihen Halani & Associates resigned as Secretarial Auditors in April 2023, replaced by M/s HRU & Associates
