SAIL standalone PAT up 316% YoY to Rs1,774 Cr on margin recovery; QoQ growth slows to 8%

SAIL's standalone revenue from operations came in at Rs31,997.51 Cr for Q2 FY27, up 19.8% YoY (Rs26,703.94 Cr) and 21.9% QoQ (Rs26,245.64 Cr). Standalone PAT was Rs1,773.73 Cr, up 315.6% YoY (Rs426.79 Cr) and 8.4% QoQ (Rs1,636.00 Cr), with basic EPS at Rs4.29 versus Rs1.03 a year ago and Rs3.96 last quarter. Only the standalone statement was present in this filing excerpt; the consolidated numbers (which our comparison context and the Street track) are not extracted here. The margin picture is directional but mixed by period: operating margin expanded YoY to 14.25% from 10.59%, and net margin to 5.54% from 1.60%, but both compressed sequentially from 16.60% and 6.23% in Q1 FY27 — consistent with management's own guidance that Q2 realisations would be lower by Rs1,000-2,000/tonne QoQ. Reported PAT growth is flattered by a smaller one-off this year: the quarter carries a Rs72.69 Cr exceptional charge for voluntary-retirement compensation, versus a much larger Rs338.44 Cr exceptional charge (gratuity-limit revision) in the year-ago quarter. Stripping both out, adjusted pre-exceptional PBT was Rs2,429.08 Cr versus Rs891.33 Cr a year ago, putting adjusted PAT growth at roughly +166% YoY rather than the headline +315.6% — still a strong improvement, just smaller than the raw number suggests. No formal Street consensus PAT figure for this specific quarter turned up in search; the closest public read is Nuvama flagging Q2 as the likely profit peak-out quarter given a ~20% correction in rebar prices and SAIL's long-products exposure. On the standalone print, that bearish QoQ call did not play out — PAT still rose both QoQ and YoY, though the consolidated figure the Street actually models may differ. Management's FY27 capex guidance of Rs15,000 Cr is tracking at Rs5,446.28 Cr spent in H1 (cash flow statement), a roughly 36% run-rate that would need to accelerate in H2 to hit the full-year number. The quarter's revenue also includes Rs2,712.55 Cr of sales to government agencies booked at provisional prices (cumulative Rs23,456.97 Cr), pending final price settlement — a standing swing factor on reported revenue. No management press release text was available in the context to cross-check against the numbers; LIC's stake reduction to 4.625% and the BCCL coal-block MoU are the quarter's other disclosed developments but do not bear directly on the P&L print. Going into Q3, the print sets up a test of whether the YoY margin recovery (largely a lower-one-off and cost-tailwind story) can hold against the QoQ pricing pressure management has already flagged, and whether H2 capex execution closes the gap to the Rs15,000 Cr FY27 target.