CESC 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.

CESC Ltd trades at ₹166, in a confirmed uptrend and 13 weeks into that stage. That is −0.9% against its own 200-day average. It sits at 53% of a 52-week range of ₹140 to ₹188. On relative strength it is currently behind the NIFTY 500 on a trailing-13-week view (9 weeks and counting).

Today the stock is in a confirmed uptrend — week 13 of stage 2. At ₹166 it trades −0.9% versus its 200-day average and sits at 53% of its 52-week range (₹140–₹188).

Against the market, two honest reads. Cumulative: over the last 10.4 years the stock moved +355% while the NIFTY 500 moved +276% — ahead of the index over the full window. Recent form: on a trailing-13-week view the stock is currently behind (9 weeks and counting; last ahead the week of 2026-06-17) — 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.

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.

CESC Ltd trades at 14.2× P/E, mid-range by its own standards (69th percentile). Its long-run median P/E is 10.4×, measured across 10.4 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 14.2× is mid-range by its own standards (69th percentile), against a long-run median of 10.4× measured over 10.4 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 +12.6% against a +0.0% price move — earnings outran the price, pushing the multiple DOWN its own range.

The price move, decomposed: over 5y, of the +14.6%/yr price move, ~+3.1%/yr came from earnings growth and ~+11.5 pp from the multiple (expanding); over 10y, of the +13.1%/yr price move, ~+8.6%/yr came from earnings growth and ~+4.5 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 full against its own past, so the story rests on the earnings line underneath it, not the multiple.

The PEG ratio and its quarterly curve, which only the second data source carries, are not drawn on this page: its two data sources disagree by up to 6.5% on reported income across 14 comparable periods. A figure two sources cannot agree on is not drawn — the gap is a decision, not missing data.

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).

CESC Ltd reads as mixed on its fundamental arc. Mixed — the growth curves are steadily positive, but ROCE at 11.0% is below the 15% bar this page requires to call it Consistent. 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.

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.

4-Factor Sector Score

52.7/100 — rank 9 of 20 in Power - Generation/Distribution · 78% evidence confidence

CESC Ltd scores 52.7 out of 100 against the 20 companies it is compared with in Power - Generation/Distribution, ranking 9. Balanced evidence: keep at normal research priority and require another comparable period before raising conviction.

The four contributions add to the total exactly: 16.5 + 14.3 + 10.6 + 11.3 = 52.7. This is the SAME number shown on the sector comparison — it is computed once, for the whole peer set, and read here.

What would change it: The read weakens if profit growth turns negative or margin improvement reverses while sector-relative strength deteriorates.

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

CESC Ltd reported ₹4,096 Cr of revenue in the Mar 26 quarter, +5.6% year on year. That is the 10th straight quarter of year-on-year growth. Over 10 years it has compounded at 4.4% a year. The last full year, FY26, came in at ₹18,570 Cr. The last four reported quarters add to ₹18,570 Cr.

FY26 revenue came in at ₹18,570 Cr (+9.2% on the year), capping 10 years at 4.4% compound. The latest quarter (Mar 26) printed ₹4,096 Cr, +5.6% year on year — the 10th consecutive quarter of year-over-year growth.

Pace check: the last four quarters averaged +9.3% growth against the decade's 4.4% — the current year is running faster than its own long-run rate.

Acceleration check: trailing-twelve-month revenue grew +9.2% over the last 4 quarters against +10.2%/yr over the last 8 — stabilising; TTM profit +13.1% vs +5.6%/yr — accelerating.

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.

CESC Ltd's operating margin is 18.0% in the Mar 26 quarter, −3.0 percentage points against the same quarter a year ago. Across 13 fiscal years the operating margin has ranged 15.0% to 34.0%. The current quarter sits inside that band.

The latest quarter's operating margin is 18.0%, −3.0 pp against the same quarter a year ago. Across 13 fiscal years the operating margin has ranged 15.0%–34.0%.

🚨 Why the margin moved: operating margin went −2.8 pp year on year while gross margin went −4.3 pp — the loss came mostly from the gross line: input costs and pricing.

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

CESC Ltd earned ₹459 Cr of net profit in the Mar 26 quarter, +19.2% year on year. It is the 4th consecutive quarter of growth. Full-year FY26 profit was ₹1,618 Cr. The 10-year compound rate is 8.3%. That is 11.2% of the quarter's revenue. The same quarter a year earlier earned ₹385 Cr.

Mar 26 profit was ₹459 Cr, +19.2% year on year — the 4th consecutive quarter of growth. On the full year, FY26 printed ₹1,618 Cr (+13.3%), and the 10-year compound rate is 8.3%.

Why profit moved: revenue contributed +5.6% and the margin −3.0 pp — the quarter was revenue-led despite a thinner margin.

Pace comparison, last four quarters: profit +12.8% vs revenue +9.3%. Profit is growing faster than sales — fixed costs are being spread over a bigger base, and each extra rupee of revenue drops more to the bottom line.

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 200% of CESC Ltd's reported profit arrived as operating cash — the cash follows the profit. In FY26 that was ₹4,057 Cr of operating cash against ₹1,618 Cr of profit. After ₹3,779 Cr of capital spending, ₹278 Cr was left as free cash.

FY26: operating cash of ₹4,057 Cr against reported profit of ₹1,618 Cr, leaving free cash of ₹278 Cr after ₹3,779 Cr of capital spending. Across the last 3 fiscal years the conversion rate is 200% 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 200%: the cash cycle tightened 26 days between FY21 and FY26 — cash that used to wait in the cycle now reaches the bank sooner.

Router verdict: the bigger cash user is investment — capital spending ran 1.8× depreciation over three years, so the next section's job is to check what that build-out is buying.

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).

CESC Ltd's cash conversion cycle runs 47 days in FY26, down from 73 days in FY21. Capital spending ran ₹6,428 Cr over the last 3 years. At FY26 sales of ₹18,570 Cr each day of that cycle holds about ₹50.9 Cr, so roughly ₹2,391 Cr sits inside the business at any moment.

FY26: debtors at 47 days (an asset-light business — no inventory to speak of) — for a full cycle of 47 days, tighter than FY21's 73.

In money terms: at FY26 sales of ₹18,570 Cr, each day of the cycle holds about ₹50.9 Cr — so the 47-day loop keeps roughly ₹2,391 Cr sitting inside the business at any moment.

On the investment side: capital spending of ₹6,428 Cr over the last 3 fiscal years against ₹3,650 Cr of depreciation — the company is building well ahead of wear-and-tear. Capital work-in-progress stands at ₹2,905 Cr (FY26) — capacity paid for but not yet earning.

The synthesis: the cash is going into capacity, not disappearing into the cycle — the question becomes whether the new capacity earns.

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.

CESC Ltd earns a ROCE of 11% in FY26. That is up from a trough of 8% in FY14. A return-on-invested-capital spread against the cost of capital is not computable from what is held here. The wiring behind it is 8.7% net margin on 0.40× asset turns.

FY26 ROCE is 11%, recovered from a FY14 trough of 8% — the full ladder below shows the fall and the climb, undoctored.

Why the return is what it is — the wiring (FY26): 8.7% net margin × 0.40× asset turns × 3.71× balance-sheet leverage ≈ 12.9% on equity. Margin does its share; leverage is a meaningful part of the equation.

The quarterly return curves and the return-on-invested-capital overlay, which only the second data source carries, are not drawn on this page: its two data sources disagree by up to 6.5% on reported income across 14 comparable periods. A figure two sources cannot agree on is not drawn — the gap is a decision, not missing data.

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.

CESC Ltd carries ₹21,671 Cr of borrowings against ₹12,530 Cr of equity in FY26, a debt-to-equity of 1.73. Operating profit covers the interest bill 3×. Over 5 years borrowings went from ₹14,277 Cr to ₹21,671 Cr. Capital spending ran ₹6,428 Cr across the last 3 of those years.

FY26: borrowings of ₹21,671 Cr against equity of ₹12,530 Cr — a debt-to-equity of 1.73. Operating profit covers the interest bill 3×. Over 5 years borrowings went from ₹14,277 Cr to ₹21,671 Cr while capital spending ran ₹6,428 Cr in just the last 3 — part of the build-out is riding on borrowed money.

The total-debt and debt-to-equity series, which only the second data source carries, are not drawn on this page: its two data sources disagree by up to 6.5% on reported income across 14 comparable periods. A figure two sources cannot agree on is not drawn — the gap is a decision, not missing data.

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 3.5 points of CESC Ltd over 8 quarters, the biggest move on the register. That takes domestic institutions to 26.1% of the company. Foreign institutions moved −2.1 points over the same window, to 11.5%. The register is read on the four disclosed classes only; nothing is inferred between filings.

The register over the last two years — Domestic institutions: +3.5 points over 8 quarters to 26.1%; Foreign institutions: −2.1 points over 8 quarters to 11.5%; Promoters: +0.0 points over 8 quarters to 52.1%.

Why the register moved: rotation — foreign institutions −2.1 points against domestic institutions +3.5 points over 8 quarters, with promoters holding steady — one class of institutions handing the register to the other, not a verdict change by the people closest to the numbers.

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.

CESC 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.

Frequently asked questions