Adani Ports Q2 FY27: consolidated PAT +18% YoY to ₹3,682 Cr, revenue +24%, above guidance

Adani Ports' consolidated revenue rose 23.7% YoY to ₹11,340.40 Cr and PAT for the period climbed 18.0% YoY to ₹3,682.44 Cr (equity-holders' share ₹3,621.94 Cr, +16.5%; EPS ₹15.72 vs ₹14.39, +9.2%), comfortably ahead of our pre-result preview, which had pencilled in revenue of ~₹11,000 Cr and EBITDA of ~₹6,600 Cr against an actual EBITDA of ~₹6,807 Cr — both roughly 3% above expectation. Sequentially the move was modest (revenue +4.8% QoQ, PAT +0.9% QoQ), underscoring that the YoY print, not the QoQ one, is the real story this quarter. Against management's FY27 guidance of 11-16% revenue growth (at least 1.5x India's GDP), H1 FY27 revenue of ₹22,161.20 Cr (+21.1% YoY) is running well ahead of the guided band. Operating margin was essentially flat at ~60% (60.02% vs 60.54% YoY, 60.44% QoQ), so the net-margin expansion to 32.47% from 31.19% a year ago (and 31.26% last quarter) came mainly from below-the-line items rather than core operating leverage: the share of profit from joint ventures swung by about ₹350 Cr, from a ₹210.19 Cr loss in Q2 FY26 to a ₹139.51 Cr profit this quarter, while a ₹30.76 Cr exceptional VRS cost at a foreign subsidiary was a modest drag (adjusted YoY PAT growth is ~19% versus 18% reported — a small difference given the item's size). Operating expenses grew faster than revenue (+29.1% YoY) on a larger consolidated base, consistent with this year's string of new subsidiaries. The quarter's corporate activity ties into the numbers: cargo volumes were up 11% YoY in September (46 MMT) per the company's own release, supporting the revenue beat; Colombo Terminal doubled capacity to 3.2M TEUs (Sept 30) and Paradip Mahanadi Terminal was incorporated as a wholly-owned subsidiary (Oct 6), both feeding the capex-led growth story management has flagged under 'Ambition 2031'; and the Oman subsidiary incorporation (Oct 22) extends the global-expansion push. Note 6 of the filing also discloses that the US DOJ's indictment against a non-executive director — the overhang from the 2024 US DOJ/SEC matter — was dismissed with prejudice on August 10, 2026, closing a legal issue that had been disclosed in prior quarters without impact on the company. No separate management press release was available with this filing to cross-check qualitative framing. Standalone results (PAT +64.5% YoY on revenue +10.8%) diverge sharply from consolidated and should not be read as the operating story — the swing is a forex-loss base effect in the holding company's own books, not group performance. Going into H2, the quarter sets up three things to track: whether the 21% H1 revenue growth moderates toward the 11-16% guided range or management lifts guidance; whether the JV profit-share swing that flattered this quarter's net margin persists; and the leverage trajectory (debt-equity 0.56x, net debt to annualised EBITDA ~1.9x) as Paradip, Colombo Phase II and the Oman entity add to the capex pipeline, against management's stated 2.5x net debt/EBITDA ceiling.