PAT — Profit After Tax

PAT (Profit After Tax) is a company's net profit for a period — revenue minus all operating costs, interest, depreciation and tax. It is the bottom line of the profit-and-loss statement and the number most headlines quote.

PAT sits at the end of a chain: revenue minus operating expenses gives operating profit; subtract interest and depreciation to get profit before tax (PBT); subtract tax to get PAT. Because it absorbs everything above it, PAT is comprehensive — but also the easiest number to distort with one-offs like asset-sale gains, tax write-backs or exceptional provisions.

In India you will see PAT reported two ways: standalone (the parent company alone) and consolidated (including subsidiaries, joint ventures and associates). For conglomerates the two can differ enormously, and the consolidated figure is the truer picture of the business a shareholder owns.

Use PAT with its context: compare it YoY for growth, check whether growth came from operations or below-the-line items, and divide by share count (EPS) to see what it means per share. A PAT jump driven by a one-time gain deserves a very different reaction from one driven by margin expansion.

Related terms

Educational content, not investment advice. Regulations and tax rules change — verify current rules before acting.