HZL Q2 FY27: Consolidated PAT Soars 142% YoY to ₹6,412 Cr as Margins Hit Record 42%

Hindustan Zinc's consolidated PAT came in at ₹6,412 Cr for Q2 FY27, up 142% year-on-year from ₹2,649 Cr and up 17% sequentially from ₹5,469 Cr, on revenue of ₹15,093 Cr (+77% YoY, +10% QoQ). EPS rose to ₹15.18 from ₹6.27 a year ago. Consolidated is the primary basis here; standalone figures weren't independently re-extracted from this filing, but HZL's subsidiaries are immaterial to the group (combined total assets of just ₹56 Cr and single-digit-crore net profit, per the auditors' limited review note), so standalone is expected to track consolidated closely rather than diverge materially. The growth came with sharp margin expansion rather than volume alone: net profit margin rose to 42.5% from 30.2% a year ago and 38.9% last quarter, matching management's own framing of "margins at 42%." EBITDA of roughly ₹9,602 Cr (PBT plus depreciation and finance costs) implies an operating margin near 63.6%, up from 52.0% YoY and 58.6% QoQ — about 1,160 bps of YoY expansion. Neither the current nor the year-ago quarter carried exceptional items, so the move is fully operational. By segment, Zinc-Lead profit rose 121% YoY to ₹4,720 Cr and Silver profit rose 146% YoY to ₹3,609 Cr, pointing to firm metal prices as the dominant driver, reinforced by continued cost control — Q1 FY27 cost of production of $851/tonne was already well inside management's $975-1,000/tonne FY27 guidance, and the further margin build this quarter is consistent with costs staying below that band (the filing doesn't break out a Q2-specific $/tonne figure). Our pre-result preview flagged record production (+7% YoY, per the Oct 3 update) against a cautious stock, with a 13-analyst consensus rated Neutral (7 Buy, 2 Hold, 4 Sell), a median target of ₹695 versus HZL's then-price of ₹549.6, and Jefferies as the bullish outlier at a ₹750 target. A reliable Q2-specific consensus for revenue or PAT could not be confirmed — the preview's own expectation range (~₹3,200-3,400 Cr revenue, ~₹700-800 Cr PAT) does not reconcile with HZL's own prior-quarter print of ₹13,747 Cr revenue and ₹5,469 Cr PAT, and a web search turned up only full-year FY27 consensus (~₹48,300 Cr revenue, ~₹11,400 Cr PAT), not quarter-specific figures — so vsStreet is marked unknown rather than guessed. Against management's own FY27 guidance from the July 28 concall (refined metal 1.1 MT, silver 680 tonnes, zinc cost $975-1,000/tonne, capex $500-600M), H1's refined-metal run-rate of 524 KT (260 KT in Q1, 264 KT in Q2) tracks close to the straight-line pace needed for the full-year target, and the margin trajectory is consistent with costs continuing to run below the guided ceiling; silver tonnage for the quarter wasn't disclosed in the figures reviewed, so progress against the 680-tonne target can't be directly confirmed even though the silver segment's rupee profit (₹3,609 Cr) now sits close to zinc-lead's (₹4,720 Cr). Management's own release cites "record quarterly mined metal production of 271 KT and refined metal production of 264 KT" and calls this the "highest-ever quarterly financial performance" — both claims are consistent with the reported numbers. Separately from the operating print, promoter Vedanta encumbered 50.1% of its HZL stake against ₹2,000 Cr of debentures between October 1-5 — read by the Street as a parent-level liquidity/refinancing signal rather than an HZL operating issue, but one investors will likely keep weighing against this quarter's clean numbers. Heading into H2 FY27, the markers to track are whether refined-metal output keeps pace with the 1.1 MT full-year target, whether cost per tonne holds below the $975-1,000 guided band, and whether silver volumes close the gap to the 680-tonne guidance after Q1's shortfall (149 tonnes).