Birlasoft Q2 FY27 consolidated: tax relief lifts PAT 37.5% YoY, margin cools

Birlasoft's consolidated revenue for the quarter ended September 30, 2026 was ₹1,416.2 Cr, up 6.6% YoY and 2.7% QoQ, with consolidated PAT of ₹159.6 Cr (basic EPS ₹5.67) — up 37.5% YoY but down 0.8% sequentially from Q1 FY27's ₹161.0 Cr. The YoY profit jump overstates operating performance: EBITDA margin (OPM) compressed to 15.2% from 16.05% a year ago and 16.15% last quarter, so pre-tax profit grew a far more modest 7.1% YoY to ₹225.0 Cr, roughly in line with revenue. The bulk of the PAT growth instead comes from the effective tax rate normalizing to 29.05%, down sharply from an unusually high 44.7% in the year-ago quarter — a tax-base effect, not an operating one. Both guided checkpoints from management's August concall played out as flagged: the 170–200bps EBITDA dilution from the July wage hike showed up as a roughly 90–100bps sequential margin decline, landing just inside the "15%+" floor management had set, and FY27 ETR of 29.05% sits squarely in the guided 29–30% band. Management gave no formal revenue guidance this quarter citing market volatility, so topline growth cannot be graded against a target, and no reliable Street consensus for this specific quarter's print could be confirmed via search, so vsStreet is treated as unknown rather than assumed. Segment growth was uneven: Manufacturing (+13.0% YoY to ₹548.6 Cr) and BFSI (+10.4% YoY to ₹364.0 Cr) drove the topline, while Energy & Utilities (-1.5% YoY to ₹226.0 Cr) and Life Sciences & Services (-2.3% YoY to ₹277.7 Cr) both contracted. Standalone (India entity) revenue of ₹858.4 Cr grew 24.4% YoY versus consolidated's 6.6%, lifting standalone's share of consolidated revenue to 60.6% from 51.9% a year ago — a divergence large enough that readers comparing the two bases will see materially different growth stories this quarter; it likely reflects how work is billed across entities rather than a swing in underlying demand, though the filing doesn't explain it directly. The quarter also saw Birlasoft named an OpenAI Select Partner (October 8) and CSO Ankur Vaish's resignation effective September 19 — neither shows up as a line-item impact this quarter. The Board declared an interim dividend of ₹3/share (150% of face value), record date November 5, 2026.