Hercules Investments swings to ₹0.12 Cr profit in Q1 FY27, snapping back-to-back quarterly losses

Hercules Investments Limited (formerly Hercules Hoists), now operating as an unregistered Core Investment Company (CIC) holding a portfolio of Bajaj Group stakes, reported standalone Q1 FY27 (quarter ended June 30, 2026) revenue of ₹0.42 Cr (₹41.93 Lakh) and net profit of ₹0.12 Cr (₹11.70 Lakh), against a loss of ₹0.08 Cr in Q4 FY26 and a loss of ₹0.008 Cr in Q1 FY26 — a turnaround both sequentially and year-on-year. Net profit margin swung from -24.7% (QoQ) and -4.5% (YoY) to +27.9% this quarter. Given the negative base in both comparison quarters, percentage YoY/QoQ PAT growth is not meaningful; the more useful read is the sign flip itself. Revenue (income from the investment portfolio, not operating sales in the traditional sense) rose 144% YoY from ₹0.17 Cr and 42% QoQ from ₹0.29 Cr, though at this scale small absolute swings produce large percentage moves and shouldn't be read as an operating trend. The swing to profit came entirely from higher portfolio income against a largely fixed cost base (₹0.22 Cr total expenses, in line with the ₹0.13-0.30 Cr range of the last three quarters); tax of ₹0.09 Cr — all deferred, no current tax — took the effective rate to about 42% on a ₹0.20 Cr pre-tax profit. Basic and diluted EPS was ₹0.04 (not annualised) versus ₹(0.03) in Q4 FY26 and ₹(0.00) in Q1 FY26. There is no analyst/street coverage identified for this micro-cap CIC (a web search for Q1 FY27 previews and consensus estimates for Hercules Investments/Hercules Hoists returned no brokerage estimates), so vsStreet is unknown; likewise the company and our records carry no formal prior guidance, so vsGuidance is unknown by default rather than a miss. Far more material than the reported P&L is other comprehensive income: fair-value gains on the Bajaj Group equity portfolio (net of deferred tax) added ₹96.82 Cr this quarter, taking total comprehensive income to ₹96.94 Cr, versus a ₹148.87 Cr OCI loss in Q4 FY26 and a ₹95.26 Cr OCI gain in Q1 FY26 — these mark-to-market swings, not the operating P&L, are what actually move the company's book value quarter to quarter. The Board approved these results alongside the 64th AGM held the same day (August 13, 2026); the company had earlier fixed August 6 as the record date for a ₹2.50 final FY26 dividend and filed its FY26 BRSR report on July 14, 2026 — routine governance items with no direct bearing on this quarter's numbers. No management press release with forward commentary accompanied the filing.