Linde India Q2 FY27: PAT Falls 31% YoY to ₹118.8 Cr as Power & Fuel Costs Bite

Linde India's consolidated PAT for Q2 FY27 fell 30.5% year-on-year to ₹118.8 Cr (EPS ₹13.93), even as revenue from operations grew 12.3% YoY to ₹723.2 Cr — a margin story, not a growth one. Standalone PAT tracked closely at ₹115.0 Cr (-32.0% YoY), so the two bases tell the same story and there is no material standalone-consolidated divergence; consolidated is primary and includes a ₹3.9 Cr share of profit from the Linde South Asia Services and Bellary Oxygen joint ventures. Sequentially, PAT was up 13.6% QoQ and revenue up 4.2% QoQ versus Q1 FY27 (₹694.4 Cr revenue, ₹104.6 Cr PAT) — but per our YoY-primary framing, that sequential bounce is supporting detail, not the headline; the YoY profit decline against double-digit revenue growth is. The margin squeeze sits almost entirely on the cost side. Power & fuel expense was ₹128.3 Cr versus ₹41.5 Cr a year ago (+209%), and this is not a one-quarter blip — it was ₹129.7 Cr in Q1 FY27 too, so the cost has run at roughly 3x year-ago levels for two consecutive quarters. Finance costs jumped to ₹15.8 Cr from ₹3.1 Cr YoY (+402%) after the company drew ₹950 Cr of fresh borrowings in H1 FY27, and depreciation rose 19.6% YoY to ₹67.5 Cr on a much higher capex run-rate (₹1,358 Cr spent on PP&E/CWIP in six months, versus ₹766 Cr for all of FY26). Operating margin fell to 32.0% from 43.8% YoY (though up from 28.9% in Q1 FY27); net margin fell to 16.3% from 26.4% YoY (up from 14.9% QoQ). None of these cost increases are flagged as exceptional in the filing — they read as structural, tied to the company's capacity-expansion and acquisition-financing cycle rather than a single quarter's anomaly. There is no formal management guidance on record for this quarter — neither in our prior database nor found via web search — so the print cannot be graded against a stated outlook; similarly, no brokerage consensus estimate for Q2 FY27 revenue or PAT turned up in a web search, so it cannot be marked beat/inline/miss against Street numbers either. No management press release accompanying this result was available to cross-check company framing. On corporate developments, the company completed its acquisition of Air Separation Units (ASUs) from Tata Steel on 30 September 2026 — right at the reporting date — and the new borrowings and elevated capex this quarter line up with funding that deal. Separately, the auditors' review report carries a qualification on the SEBI related-party-transaction and valuation-report matter, stating the financial impact is 'not presently ascertainable'; the Supreme Court appeal on this is listed for hearing on 6 November 2026. Going into Q3 FY27, the two numbers to watch are whether power & fuel costs hold near ₹128-130 Cr/quarter (determining whether 32% OPM is the new normal or a trough) and the first full-quarter P&L impact of the Tata Steel ASU acquisition plus the finance cost on the ₹950 Cr debt raised to fund it. Total borrowings stood at ₹950 Cr at quarter-end versus nil at 31 March 2026.