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Alumex Plc: research report

Moderately undervaluedbullishSep 30, 2026

Evidence points bullish because June operating margin reached 7.6%, its best June in four; the catch is debt equals 154% of owners' equity.

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Why bullish

  • June operating margin rose to 7.6%, the best of four comparable June quarters despite lower revenue.
  • The twelve months to June produced an 18.4% return on equity, while the market-wide value score is 63 of 100.

Against this. Debt was 154.0% of owners' equity at the latest audited year-end, leaving a highly geared balance sheet.

Operating margin
7.6%sector 13.6%
from 5.9% a year earlier
Net margin
4.2%sector 10.9%
from 0.6% a year earlier, revenue -3.8%
Return on equity
18.4%
twelve months to Jun 30, 2026, unaudited
P/E
9.6sector 10.2
earnings Rs 1.65 per share
P/B
1.77sector 1.09
book Rs 8.99 per share
Dividend yield
2.96%sector 2.39%
28.5% of earnings paid out

Current figures, updated daily from filings to Jun 30, 2026. The report below was written on Sep 30, 2026. Sector figures are the median of 32 listed companies in the same sector.

Overview

Alumex makes aluminium extrusions, semi-finished products and fabricated solutions for construction, industrial and lifestyle uses, serving domestic and export customers. The key change in the latest quarter was improved profitability despite softer sales: the June result was its strongest comparable June margin performance, rather than a sales-led expansion.

Price performance

At LKR 15.90 on 30 September 2026, the share had fallen 11.2% over three months against a 6.5% fall in the ASPI. It closed at its 52-week low, while trading volume over the past 20 days was above its own recent norm and price volatility was below its own one-year norm.

The record since October 2023 is three falls of 15% or more in three years, the deepest 29%, which has not yet recovered. Median daily turnover was LKR 1.1 million; a LKR 1 million order is about 94% of what trades on a typical day, a large part of a day's trading. That limits how easily a meaningful position can be built or sold through normal daily trading.

Valuation

At 9.64 rupees for every rupee of trailing profit, Alumex trades slightly below the sector median P/E of 10.22 times. The market-wide valuation score is 63 of 100, placing it in the moderately undervalued band on earnings, book value and dividends.

The P/B is 1.77 times, meaning the market charges LKR 1.77 for each LKR 1 of net assets, above the sector median of 1.04 times and higher than 77% of sector peers. Its 18.4% trailing return on equity helps explain that premium to book value rather than making it a balance-sheet warning by itself. The 3.0% dividend yield is below the sector median, while the payout rose from LKR 0.40 in FY2025 to LKR 0.47 in FY2026; FY2027 currently contains only a LKR 0.20 first interim dividend. No own-history valuation comparison is available in the data.

News and sentiment

Direct coverage was normal, with two material articles in the past 90 days, both positive and none negative. On 16 June, Alumex reported installing a 20 MN extrusion line capable of more than 2,000 tonnes monthly output, with projected energy savings of 30% to 40%; this expands manufacturing capacity and could improve unit economics, although the report did not disclose a financial contribution.

A first interim dividend of LKR 0.20 per share is confirmed, with an ex-date of 9 October 2026 and payment on 21 October 2026.

Financials

June-quarter revenue fell 3.8% year-on-year, but gross margin rose from 16.6% to 20.5%, operating margin from 5.9% to 7.6%, and net margin from 0.6% to 4.2%. The company made more profit from each rupee of sales despite the lower revenue base. Each margin was the best of four comparable June quarters.

Operating profit grew 23.5% and net profit grew 599.5%, with the June quarter earning LKR 150 million. June has been Alumex's weakest quarter for operating margin on average over the five complete years on record, so the improvement is stronger than an all-quarter comparison would suggest. Finance costs, tax and other below-operating items still removed LKR 120 million from operating profit.

Equity rose to LKR 5.4 billion from LKR 4.7 billion a year earlier. The 598.6 million shares in issue were unchanged, so the profit improvement was not created by a mechanical change in the share count.

Risks

The principal risk is leverage. At the March 2026 audited year-end, debt was LKR 8.1 billion, or 154.0% of owners' equity. Interest cover was 1.95 times, meaning operating profit covered the interest bill by less than twice, leaving limited room for a weaker operating result or higher borrowing costs.

Liquidity is also tight rather than distressed: the current ratio was 1.08 times, meaning LKR 1.08 of short-term assets, including inventories and customer receivables, stood against each LKR 1 of bills due within a year. Operating cash flow equalled 0.68 times operating profit, so not all of the reported operating profit arrived as cash. The property and construction backdrop also includes an additional TIN compliance step for building-plan approvals and land registrations from November, which may add friction to sector activity.

Outlook

As at 30 September 2026, the next company-specific event is the LKR 0.20 interim dividend ex-date on 9 October; only buyers before that date receive it. The next financial test is the September 2026 interim quarter, expected between 6 and 14 November 2026, when the June-quarter margin recovery and the balance-sheet trajectory will be updated.

The data cannot yet show the revenue, cost or profit contribution from the new extrusion line. It can show that the September filing will supersede figures ending June 2026, while sector conditions remain mixed between deferred property-tax plans, added transaction compliance and continuing public infrastructure activity.

About this report. Generated on Sep 30, 2026 from market data up to Sep 30, 2026, 2 material news articles over 90 days and financials to Jun 30, 2026, and scored 63 of 100 on value (moderately undervalued) when it was written. Every figure is drawn from EquityLK's own data on this company. AI research can contain errors, so treat it as a starting point, not investment advice.

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