SEIL Q2 FY27: revenue +20% YoY but cost inflation cuts standalone PAT 43%

Schneider Electric Infrastructure's standalone revenue rose 19.8% YoY to ₹779.12 Cr (₹650.14 Cr a year ago) and 19.6% QoQ (₹651.36 Cr), consistent with the backlog-led growth management flagged last quarter. But profitability moved the other way: standalone PAT fell 43.3% YoY to ₹29.65 Cr from ₹52.32 Cr, even as it jumped 138% sequentially from Q1's seasonally soft ₹12.44 Cr — management itself had called Q1 "historically soft," so the QoQ pop is a seasonal snap-back rather than a trend reversal. EPS followed suit: ₹1.24 versus ₹2.19 a year ago and ₹0.52 last quarter. The margin bridge explains the divergence. EBITDA margin (OPM) compressed to 7.72% from 12.89% a year ago, and net margin fell to 3.81% from ~8.0%, even though both expanded sequentially from Q1's 5.23%/1.91%. Cost growth simply outran revenue: materials and stock-in-trade costs net of inventory build rose ~28% YoY versus 19.8% revenue growth (the inventory-change line provided a far smaller cushion than a year ago — a ₹2,466 lakh unfavourable swing), employee costs grew 25.2% YoY, and finance costs 36.8% YoY as borrowings and lease liabilities expanded alongside a larger capex programme (capital work-in-progress up to ₹16,304 lakh from ₹10,190 lakh at FY26-end). Against the last concall's framing, this is a mixed outcome. Management had guided no hard numbers but expressed confidence that Q2 onward would benefit from a ₹2,100+ Cr backlog (+33% YoY) and initiated pricing actions; the backlog clearly delivered on revenue, but the pricing actions have not yet visibly offset input and employee cost inflation, so the quarter missed the implicit margin-recovery expectation even as topline confirmed the growth thesis. There is no formal Street consensus with reliable, quarter-matched figures available for this result, so vsStreet is marked unknown rather than guessed. Away from the P&L, the company lost two tax/GST appeals this quarter (₹3.37 Cr and a prior ₹3.25 Cr demand upheld, plus a separate GST appeal rejection) and announced Kolkata plant capacity expansion tied to its export ramp (10-12% of revenue, per last quarter's commentary) — neither is large enough to move this quarter's reported numbers but both are consistent with the capex and legal-cost backdrop visible in the balance sheet. The filing itself carries no separate management press release or forward commentary beyond the standard Ind AS/board-meeting disclosures.