Ultramarine & Pigments Ltd: 719 Crores Sales, 61 Lakhs Units Wind Energy – From Colors to Currents, Company Paints It All

1. At a Glance

Imagine a company that sells pigments to make your soap blue, surfactants to make your soap bubbly, detergent to wash your dirty baniyan, IT services to outsource your cousin’s job, and even wind energy because why not? That’s Ultramarine & Pigments Ltd – a cocktail of everything from chemistry labs to call centres. With ₹719 crore sales in FY25, the stock trades at a PE of 18.5, and like every Indian joint family business, they have their hands dipped in too many paint buckets.

2. Introduction

Welcome to Ultramarine & Pigments Ltd (UPL – not to be confused with the bigger UPL which sells pesticides, though both like to splash chemicals around). Incorporated in Tamil Nadu, this smallcap has been quietly supplying the FMCG mafia with surfactants and pigments that make their soaps look shinier than Bollywood actors’ faces in fairness cream ads.

Surfactants = the bubbly stuff in your shampoo and detergent.
Pigments = the shiny colors in your wall paints, textiles, plastics.
Detergent Brand OOB = because “Ariel” and “Surf” were already taken.
IT/BPO = because India.

Exports form 28% of sales, proving that foreigners also enjoy shiny soap and colored plastics. The company is also a proud owner of 6 wind turbines, basically telling the world: “We generate clean energy so you can dirty your clothes guilt-free.”

But behind the shiny blue pigment lies a tricky financial picture. ROE stuck below 8%, balance sheet carrying low debt but high investments in group company Thirumalai Chemicals (~₹351 crore), and promoters slowly diluting stake (down to 40.5%).

So the big question: Is Ultramarine a future FMCG raw material king, or just another smallcap forever waiting to graduate from tuition classes to IIT?

3. Business Model (WTF Do They Even Do?)

Ultramarine’s business model is like a thali – too many dishes, some tasty, some filler:

1. Pigments (32% of FY23 revenue):
   These are high-margin chemical powders that add color to plastics, paints, cosmetics, and detergents. Fancy word: Ultramarine Blue. Real meaning: that blue stuff in your washing powder packet.
2. Surfactants (59%):
   They supply to South Indian FMCG players. Without surfactants, your soap wouldn’t foam, and you wouldn’t believe you’re clean. So basically, they sell the illusion of cleanliness.
3. IT Services & BPO (9%):
   No relation to pigments. This is the “side hustle” that somehow stuck, like that one relative who won’t leave the house after Holi.
4. OOB Detergent:
   In-house FMCG brand. Ever seen it in Big Bazaar? Neither have we.
5. Wind Energy (4.3 MW, 61.8 lakh units FY23):
   Because why not slap a green sticker on annual reports? All power is used captively at Ranipet and Ambattur plants. Basically, they’re generating free bijli for their own soap machines.

Question for you readers: Would you trust a company making blue powders and IT outsourcing at the same time, or is that diversification genius?

4. Financials Overview

• Annualised EPS of ~₹27 → Current PE = 18.0 (reasonable).
• PAT margin ~11% → Not bad, not stellar.
• QoQ