IFGL Refractories Ltd

Price story Before the numbers, the tape. A stock price moves through four repeating seasons: a flat base (stage 1), an advance (2), a top (3), a decline (4). Where the price sits in that cycle frames everything below.

IFGL Refractories Ltd trades at ₹158, in a downtrend and 13 weeks into that stage. That is −27.1% against its own 200-day average. It sits at 0% of a 52-week range of ₹158 to ₹285. On relative strength it is currently behind the NIFTY 500 on a trailing-13-week view (22 weeks and counting).

Today the stock is in a downtrend — week 13 of stage 4, confirmed. At ₹158 it trades −27.1% versus its 200-day average and sits at 0% of its 52-week range (₹158–₹285).

Against the market, two honest reads. Cumulative: over the last 8.3 years the stock moved +0% while the NIFTY 500 moved +144% — behind the index over the full window. Recent form: on a trailing-13-week view the stock is currently behind (22 weeks and counting; last ahead the week of 2025-10-03) — the ribbon below is that same metric, week by week.

What would end the trend, mechanically: two Friday closes in a row below the 200-day line. That is the exit rule — no debates.

→ The trend is one thing; the bill is another. Are you paying up for it? Next: the P/E sits at the 52nd percentile of its own range.

Valuation P/E is the price of ₹1 of annual profit: how many rupees the market pays for each rupee the company earns in a year.

IFGL Refractories Ltd trades at 24.1× P/E, mid-range by its own standards (52nd percentile). Its long-run median P/E is 23.9×, measured across 8.3 years of weekly readings. This places the multiple against the stock’s own record, and says nothing about what the business is worth.

Today's P/E of 24.1× is mid-range by its own standards (52nd percentile), against a long-run median of 23.9× measured over 8.3 years of weekly readings. This is a comparison against the stock's own history — not a claim about what it is worth.

Why the multiple sits where it does: over the past year annual EPS moved −11.5% against a −15.0% price move — earnings outran the price, pushing the multiple DOWN its own range.

The price move, decomposed: over 5y, of the +4.5%/yr price move, ~−5.3%/yr came from earnings growth and ~+9.8 pp from the multiple (expanding). The split is the honest approximate (price return minus earnings growth); it makes the rally itself visible instead of hiding it behind the percentile.

Put together: the multiple is unremarkable against its own past, so the story rests on the earnings line underneath it, not the multiple.

→ Cheap or dear rides on the earnings. Are they actually growing? Next: the fundamental stage — where the business sits in its arc, and how growth has compounded.

Stage: Mixed Every business sits somewhere on a fundamental arc, and this page names the spot before anything else. The last twelve quarters of revenue, profit and EPS growth — plus the return the business earns on its capital — are read as curves: Deteriorating (the curves are falling), Turning around (a trough has just formed and the last few quarters lift off it), Improving (the climb off the trough is sustained), Consistent (steadily positive with healthy returns), Topping out (still high but decelerating from the peak). When the curves genuinely disagree the read is Mixed; too little history is No read. CAGR (compound annual growth rate) is the smooth yearly pace that turns the starting value into the latest one — the fairest way to compare growth across different time spans. Read the columns together: if the 1-year number towers over the 10-year, recent growth is running hotter than the long-run trend. A dash means that window is not held, or the base year was a loss (where a growth rate is not meaningful).

IFGL Refractories Ltd reads as mixed on its fundamental arc. Mixed — no clean majority across the growth curves, ROCE slipping at 11.0% — the per-curve reads carry the story. The read is built from 10 quarters across 3 curves, on partial evidence.

Why it matters: when the curves disagree, the per-curve reads above matter more than any single verdict.

One or more growth curves carry a base-effect spike — a large year-on-year move off a near-zero or loss-making comparable quarter. Those spikes are capped before the classifier reads the trajectory, and shown pinned on the chart, so a single distorted quarter does not drive the stage call.

Return readings here are annual, not quarterly — read as level and direction only; they can confirm the growth curves but never drive the stage on their own.

A partial read: at least one curve is short, or the returns curve is not the computed quarterly series — hold the stage word a little more loosely.

→ The stage names the trajectory. Next: the revenue line that produces it, quarter by quarter.

4-Factor Sector Score

No sector-relative score — IFGL Refractories Ltd is not present in the sector comparison for Refractories.

The score is a rank WITHIN a peer set: every metric is scored by percentile against the other members. Without the peer set there is no score to state, so none is invented here.

Revenue Revenue is the top line: everything the company billed its customers in the period.

IFGL Refractories Ltd reported ₹271 Cr of revenue in the Dec 25 quarter, +16.3% year on year. That is the 5th straight quarter of year-on-year growth. Over 9 years it has compounded at 40.4% a year. The last full year, FY25, came in at ₹998 Cr. The last four reported quarters add to ₹1,103 Cr.

IFGL Refractories Ltd reported ₹271 Cr of revenue in the Dec 25 quarter, +16.3% year on year. That is the 5th straight quarter of year-on-year growth. Over 9 years it has compounded at 40.4% a year. The last full year, FY25, came in at ₹998 Cr. The last four reported quarters add to ₹1,103 Cr.

FY25 revenue came in at ₹998 Cr (+11.8% on the year), capping 9 years at 40.4% compound. The latest quarter (Dec 25) printed ₹271 Cr, +16.3% year on year — the 5th consecutive quarter of year-over-year growth.

Pace check: the last four quarters averaged +18.1% growth against the decade's 40.4% — the current year is running slower than its own long-run rate.

Acceleration check: trailing-twelve-month revenue grew +17.6% over the last 4 quarters against +11.1%/yr over the last 8 — accelerating; TTM profit −23.6% vs −23.0%/yr — stabilising.

→ Revenue grew — did margins hold as it scaled? Next: 6.0% this quarter (−2.5 pp YoY).

Operating margin Operating margin is what is left of every ₹100 of sales after running the business, before interest and tax. It is the cleanest read on pricing power and cost control.

IFGL Refractories Ltd's operating margin is 6.0% in the Dec 25 quarter, −2.5 percentage points against the same quarter a year ago. Across 10 fiscal years the operating margin has ranged 13.0% to 25.0%. The current quarter is running below every full year in that window.

IFGL Refractories Ltd's operating margin is 6.0% in the Dec 25 quarter, −2.5 percentage points against the same quarter a year ago. Across 10 fiscal years the operating margin has ranged 13.0% to 25.0%. The current quarter is running below every full year in that window.

The latest quarter's operating margin is 6.0%, −2.5 pp against the same quarter a year ago. Across 10 fiscal years the operating margin has ranged 13.0%–25.0%.

🚨 Why the margin moved: operating margin went −2.5 pp year on year while gross margin went −2.4 pp — the loss came mostly from the gross line: input costs and pricing.

→ Margins slipped — did that reach the bottom line? Next: profit −170.9% in the latest quarter.

Net profit Net profit is what survives every cost, interest and tax — the number EPS, dividends and book value all grow from.

IFGL Refractories Ltd posted a net loss of ₹3.6 Cr in the Dec 25 quarter. Full-year FY25 profit was ₹58.0 Cr. The 9-year compound rate is 26.5%. That loss is 1.3% of the quarter's revenue. The same quarter a year earlier earned ₹5.0 Cr. 2 of the last 12 reported quarters were loss-making.

IFGL Refractories Ltd posted a net loss of ₹3.6 Cr in the Dec 25 quarter. Full-year FY25 profit was ₹58.0 Cr. The 9-year compound rate is 26.5%. That loss is 1.3% of the quarter's revenue. The same quarter a year earlier earned ₹5.0 Cr. 2 of the last 12 reported quarters were loss-making.

Dec 25 profit was ₹−3.6 Cr, −170.9% year on year. On the full year, FY25 printed ₹58.0 Cr (−10.8%), and the 9-year compound rate is 26.5%.

🚨 Why profit moved: revenue contributed +16.3% and the margin −2.5 pp — the quarter was revenue-led despite a thinner margin.

Pace comparison, last four quarters: profit −46.6% vs revenue +18.1%. Profit is growing slower than sales — costs are eating the growth before it reaches the bottom line.

→ Profit rose — but did the cash follow? Next: 110% of the last 3 years' profit arrived as cash.

Cash flow — the router The P&L says what was earned; the cash-flow statement says what actually arrived. Operating cash flow (CFO) against profit is the cleanest lie detector in the accounts.

Over the last 3 fiscal years 110% of IFGL Refractories Ltd's reported profit arrived as operating cash — the cash follows the profit. In FY25 that was ₹24.0 Cr of operating cash against ₹58.0 Cr of profit. After ₹41.0 Cr of capital spending, ₹−17.0 Cr was left as free cash.

FY25: operating cash of ₹24.0 Cr against reported profit of ₹58.0 Cr, leaving free cash of ₹−17.0 Cr after ₹41.0 Cr of capital spending. Across the last 3 fiscal years the conversion rate is 110% of profit.

Cash-flow readings here are annual — that is the resolution our series carries, so this section moves once a year.

Why conversion sits at 110%: the cash cycle stretched 60 days between FY20 and FY25 — more of each rupee of profit waits inside the cycle before arriving.

Router verdict: no single sink dominates — the next section checks both the working-capital cycle and the capital spending.

→ So follow the cash to where it goes. Next: a 168-day cycle and ₹216 Cr of building.

Where the cash goes Working capital is the cash tied up between paying suppliers and getting paid: debtor days (customers owe), inventory days (stock waits), and the cash conversion cycle (the whole loop, in days of sales).

IFGL Refractories Ltd's cash conversion cycle runs 168 days in FY25, up from 108 days in FY20. Capital spending ran ₹216 Cr over the last 3 years. At FY25 sales of ₹998 Cr each day of that cycle holds about ₹2.7 Cr, so roughly ₹459 Cr sits inside the business at any moment.

FY25: debtors at 82 days, inventory at 186 days — roughly 6.1 months of stock waiting to sell; that is where the cash sits while it waits — for a full cycle of 168 days, looser than FY20's 108.

The full loop: cash goes out to suppliers and production on day 0; stock waits 186 days to sell; customers pay about 82 days after that; and suppliers themselves are paid at 101 days — netting out to the 168-day cycle.

In money terms: at FY25 sales of ₹998 Cr, each day of the cycle holds about ₹2.7 Cr — so the 168-day loop keeps roughly ₹459 Cr sitting inside the business at any moment.

On the investment side: capital spending of ₹216 Cr over the last 3 fiscal years against ₹145 Cr of depreciation — building somewhat ahead of wear-and-tear. Capital work-in-progress stands at ₹7.0 Cr (FY25) — capacity paid for but not yet earning.

The synthesis: neither the cycle nor the build-out is hoarding the cash — the machine is reasonably clean.

→ Does all this activity actually earn its cost of capital? Next: ROCE is 11%.

Return on capital Return on capital employed (ROCE) is the profit the whole business earns on all the money in it — equity and debt together. It is the single best test of whether growth creates value or just size.

IFGL Refractories Ltd earns a ROCE of 11% in FY25. That is up from a trough of 6% in FY17. A return-on-invested-capital spread against the cost of capital is not computable from what is held here. The wiring behind it is 5.8% net margin on 0.97× asset turns.

FY25 ROCE is 11%, recovered from a FY17 trough of 6% — the full ladder below shows the fall and the climb, undoctored.

Why the return is what it is — the wiring (FY25): 5.8% net margin × 0.97× asset turns × 1.49× balance-sheet leverage ≈ 8.4% on equity. Margin does its share; leverage is modest — this is an earned return, not a borrowed one.

→ Returns like these — is the balance sheet borrowing to make them? Next: debt-to-equity is 0.22.

Debt Debt-to-equity says how much of the business is funded by borrowings; interest cover says how many times operating profit pays the interest bill. Low and high, respectively, is the safe corner.

IFGL Refractories Ltd carries ₹153 Cr of borrowings against ₹694 Cr of equity in FY25, a debt-to-equity of 0.22. Operating profit covers the interest bill 10×. Over 5 years borrowings went from ₹41.0 Cr to ₹153 Cr. Capital spending ran ₹216 Cr across the last 3 of those years.

FY25: borrowings of ₹153 Cr against equity of ₹694 Cr — a debt-to-equity of 0.22. Operating profit covers the interest bill 10×. Over 5 years borrowings went from ₹41.0 Cr to ₹153 Cr while capital spending ran ₹216 Cr in just the last 3 — part of the build-out is riding on borrowed money.

→ Who owns this, and are they adding or leaving? Next: Domestic institutions added 1.8 points over 8 quarters.

Ownership Who owns the stock, quarter by quarter: promoters (the controlling owners), foreign and domestic institutions, and the public. Steady accumulation by people close to the numbers is a signal; a quiet register is also an answer.

Domestic institutions added 1.8 points of IFGL Refractories Ltd over 8 quarters, the biggest move on the register. That takes domestic institutions to 13.5% of the company. Foreign institutions moved −0.3 points over the same window, to 0.0%. The register is read on the four disclosed classes only; nothing is inferred between filings.

The register over the last two years — Domestic institutions: +1.8 points over 8 quarters to 13.5%; Foreign institutions: −0.3 points over 8 quarters to 0.0%; Promoters: +0.0 points over 8 quarters to 72.4%.

Why the register moved: domestic institutions drove it (+1.8 points) — steady accumulation by institutions reading the same numbers this page reads.

→ One last check: does the safety math agree? Next: the balance-sheet safety line.

Safety line The Z-score estimates how far a company sits from balance-sheet distress — above roughly 3 is safe, below roughly 1.8 is the danger zone. It was built for manufacturers, so it is not applied to banks and lenders.

IFGL Refractories Ltd: the Z-score is not available for this stock, so we say so rather than invent one. It is a distance-to-distress estimate from the balance sheet, not a forecast of failure. The debt, cash-flow and return sections above carry the balance-sheet evidence this page does hold, and each of them states its own reporting date.

The safety line in one sentence: the Z-score is not available for this stock, so we say so rather than invent one.

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