Novus Loyalty H1 FY27: PAT +32% YoY to ₹7.57 Cr, revenue +37%, margins slip on cost mix

Novus Loyalty's standalone H1 FY27 (April-September 2026) results show revenue from operations up 37.1% YoY to ₹97.90 Cr from ₹71.41 Cr, with standalone PAT up 32.3% YoY to ₹7.57 Cr from ₹5.72 Cr. This filing discloses half-year, not standalone quarterly, figures — Novus reports as a BSE SME-listed entity on a half-yearly cadence under SEBI LODR, so no isolated Q2 column exists and QoQ comparisons aren't possible here. Profit growth trailed revenue growth, pulling net margin down to 7.73% from 8.01% and PBT margin to 10.37% from 10.70% a year earlier. The squeeze sits in direct expenses, which rose to ₹75.40 Cr (77% of revenue) from ₹51.19 Cr, outpacing the topline increase; employee costs (₹2.70 Cr vs ₹2.07 Cr) and other expenses (₹14.90 Cr vs ₹11.92 Cr) grew roughly in line. Against the FY26 concall guidance of ">20% FY27 revenue growth" and "margin expansion from a higher-margin tech/merchant-promotion mix," the H1 print clears the revenue bar comfortably but runs counter to the margin-expansion promise — a gap unaddressed in writing, since no press release accompanied this filing. No street estimates or brokerage previews for this SME-listed name turned up in search, so vsStreet is unknown. The one concrete inorganic move this quarter — the September 25, 2026 acquisition of a 54.87% stake in AutoPe Payment Solutions — sits outside this P&L (the company still reports no subsidiary/JV as of September 30, 2026) and will be the first test of the acquisition-led growth strategy flagged in the prior guidance.