AdCounty Media Q1: consol. PAT +25.5% YoY to ₹5.14 Cr, margins squeezed by media costs

AdCounty Media India posted consolidated revenue of ₹25.26 Cr and PAT of ₹5.14 Cr for Q1 FY27 (quarter ended June 2026), up 48.2% and 25.5% YoY respectively against the year-ago standalone base of ₹17.05 Cr revenue and ₹4.10 Cr PAT (the company had no consolidated group at that time). Profit growth trailing revenue growth by such a wide margin is the story: net profit margin compressed to 20.4% from 23.4% a year ago, and EPS actually fell to ₹2.28 from ₹2.48 YoY (-8.1%) — not because per-share economics weakened operationally, but because the paid-up equity base rose ~36% (₹16.54 Cr to ₹22.50 Cr) following the company's SME-platform IPO completed in July 2025, diluting the profit gain. The margin squeeze traces to cost of traded media, the company's principal pass-through cost line, which rose to 65.5% of consolidated revenue this quarter versus roughly 56% of standalone revenue a year ago — media inventory costs are running ahead of revenue growth. Employee benefits expense (standalone ₹87.25 Cr Lacs... ) rose a milder 39% YoY, broadly tracking revenue, and finance/depreciation costs stayed small. Sequentially, revenue and PAT both fell (-19.5% and -21.7% consolidated QoQ against Q4 FY26's ₹31.37 Cr/₹6.56 Cr), which reads as the digital-ad industry's typical Q4 budget-flush effect rather than a fresh slowdown, given the strong YoY print. On corporate developments, the board doubled the company's borrowing limit to ₹200 Cr this quarter (June 23, 2026) alongside continued deployment of the ₹50.69 Cr SME-IPO proceeds — the Annexure B utilisation statement shows ₹13.97 Cr of the ₹14 Cr capex bucket and ₹16.93 Cr of the ₹25 Cr working-capital bucket used to date, with the monitoring agency (Acuité) flagging no deviation. Management gives no formal guidance or outlook on record, and no press release or concall commentary was available for this quarter, so there is nothing from management to grade the print against. A web search for street/analyst estimates on this print turned up no brokerage coverage or consensus figures — consistent with a recently-listed BSE SME name with limited institutional tracking — so vsStreet is unknown rather than assessed.