CARE Ratings Q2 FY27 results: net profit up 26.5% to ₹72.37 crore, revenue up 20.4%

How did CARE Ratings perform in Q2 FY27?

CARE Ratings reported consolidated revenue of ₹164.13 crore for Q2 FY27, up 20.4% from ₹136.37 crore in the year-ago quarter and 47.0% from ₹111.68 crore in Q1 FY27. EBITDA rose to ₹84.61 crore from ₹68.41 crore a year earlier and ₹34.63 crore in the previous quarter, while the margin increased by 1.4 percentage points to 51.6% from 50.2%.

Net profit for the quarter was ₹72.37 crore, up 26.5% from ₹57.21 crore in Q2 FY26 and 119.4% from ₹32.99 crore in Q1 FY27. Profit attributable to owners was ₹71.85 crore, against ₹56.67 crore and ₹32.26 crore, respectively, while basic EPS rose to ₹23.88 from ₹18.90 a year earlier and ₹10.73 in the previous quarter.

What changed in CARE Ratings' costs and profit?

Total expenses increased 16.5% to ₹83.96 crore from ₹72.04 crore in Q2 FY26, slower than the rise in revenue. Employee cost rose 14.0% by ₹7.46 crore to ₹60.74 crore, while other expenses increased 27.9% by ₹4.10 crore to ₹18.78 crore; depreciation was ₹3.86 crore, up ₹0.40 crore, and finance costs fell ₹0.03 crore to ₹58 lakh.

Other income rose 22.7% by ₹2.85 crore to ₹15.43 crore from ₹12.58 crore. There was no exceptional item in either quarter. Profit before tax increased 24.3% by ₹18.69 crore to ₹95.60 crore, while tax increased 17.9% by ₹3.53 crore to ₹23.23 crore, resulting in net profit growth of 26.5%.

How did the first half of FY27 go?

For H1 FY27, consolidated revenue was ₹275.81 crore, up 19.8% from ₹230.28 crore in H1 FY26. Total income rose 19.4% by ₹49.65 crore to ₹306.04 crore, profit before tax increased 22.9% by ₹26.22 crore to ₹140.57 crore, and net profit rose 25.9% by ₹21.65 crore to ₹105.36 crore.

Basic EPS for the first half increased 25.8% by ₹7.10 to ₹34.61 from ₹27.51 in H1 FY26. The investor presentation reported H1 FY27 EBITDA of ₹119.25 crore, up 24%, with ratings revenue of ₹247.22 crore and non-ratings revenue of ₹28.59 crore.

What do the balance sheet and cash flow show?

Total assets increased to ₹1,195.92 crore on 30 September 2026 from ₹1,104.74 crore on 31 March 2026, while total equity rose to ₹1,013.80 crore from ₹943.13 crore. There were no borrowings at either date, and cash increased to ₹106.47 crore from ₹42.60 crore.

Trade receivables increased to ₹87.83 crore from ₹35.04 crore and trade payables rose to ₹18.82 crore from ₹14.89 crore. In H1 FY27, operating cash flow was ₹45.92 crore, compared with ₹25.35 crore in H1 FY26, and investing cash flow was ₹57.68 crore against a negative ₹16.50 crore.

Financing cash outflow was ₹39.73 crore in H1 FY27, compared with ₹29.71 crore in H1 FY26, while capital expenditure was ₹4.49 crore against ₹6.45 crore. The filings did not provide a closing cash figure for the cash-flow statements.

How has CARE Ratings done over the last 8 quarters?

Revenue and net profit reached their highest levels of the period in Q2 FY27, at ₹164.13 crore and ₹72.37 crore, respectively. The EBITDA margin also peaked at 51.6%, compared with 31.0% in Q1 FY27 and 50.2% in Q2 FY26, indicating a return to the higher level seen a year earlier after the previous quarter’s decline.

Revenue and profit rose year on year in each of the last eight quarters. The current quarter followed Q1 FY27 revenue of ₹111.68 crore, net profit of ₹32.99 crore and an EBITDA margin of 31.0%, with both revenue and profit moving higher while margin recovered by 20.6 percentage points.

Which businesses drove the quarter?

Rating and related services generated revenue of ₹148.55 crore in Q2 FY27, up 20.8% from ₹123.01 crore in Q2 FY26. Segment EBIT was ₹94.86 crore, up from ₹75.50 crore, and the segment EBIT margin was 63.9%.

The Others segment reported revenue of ₹16.08 crore, up 18.8% from ₹13.53 crore in the year-ago quarter. Its EBIT fell to ₹0.13 crore from ₹0.91 crore, while the EBIT margin was 0.8%.

What else did the company announce?

The board approved the unaudited standalone and consolidated financial results for the quarter and half year ended 30 September 2026, along with the limited review report issued by B S R & Co. LLP. It also approved an interim dividend of ₹10 per equity share of face value ₹10 for FY27, with the record date fixed as 6 November 2026.

The board appointed Jatindar Pal Singh Bajaj as an Additional Director, designated as a Non-Executive Non-Independent Director, effective 29 October 2026 and subject to shareholder approval. The appointment was made on the recommendation of the Nomination and Remuneration Committee; the filing states that Bajaj is not related to any director of the company.

What did CARE Ratings' management say?

Mehul Pandya, Managing Director and Group CEO of CareEdge, said the Group sustained momentum from the preceding quarters and reported performance across all companies. He said H1 FY27 operating income increased 17% on a standalone basis and 20% on a consolidated basis, while ratings and non-ratings businesses grew 20% and 18%, respectively.

Management projected India’s full-year FY27 GDP growth at 7.3%, saying better-than-expected growth supported the estimate. It said domestic momentum was expected to remain healthy in FY27 despite some moderation in the second half, while flagging geopolitical developments, energy-price volatility, weather-related risks and rising inflation.

Management said the West Asia crisis was weighing on the global economy and increasing uncertainty and energy-price volatility. It also cited a deficient southwest monsoon and El Nino concerns as risks to growth and inflation, and noted that the RBI raised its policy repo rate by 25 basis points to 5.50% in October. Corporate bond fundraising rose 1.7% to ₹5.8 trillion in H1 FY27 despite a Q2 rebound.

Management identified quality-led growth across the Group as a continuing priority and said the Board had declared an interim dividend of ₹10 per share. The presentation also reported a definitive SPA and SHA with State Bank of India and NSE IFSC Ltd for acquiring 9.90% stake each in CareEdge Global IFSC Ltd; the supplied material did not include analysts’ questions or company-specific revenue, margin or capacity targets.

How did CARE Ratings shares react?

The results were filed after market hours. From the price when the filing appeared, the stock fell 1.8% after five minutes, 1.4% after 15 minutes and 2.0% after 30 minutes, before closing the reaction day 2.9% above its pre-results close of ₹1,613.20.

Earlier results-day moves were mixed: 19.7% on 23 October 2024, negative 9.5% on 30 January 2025, 13.4% on 12 May 2025, 0.6% on 5 August 2025, 5.2% on 12 November 2025, 1.9% on 11 February 2026, 8.3% on 13 May 2026 and a fall of 1.6% on 7 August 2026.