GACL swings to ₹55 Cr consolidated profit in Q1, a YoY turnaround on record revenue

Gujarat Alkalies & Chemicals turned a year-ago loss into profit in Q1 FY27, posting consolidated PAT of ₹54.98 Cr against a ₹13.78 Cr loss in Q1 FY26, on its highest-ever quarterly revenue of ₹1,244.91 Cr (+12.7% YoY, +10.6% QoQ). Standalone PAT was ₹53.40 Cr versus ₹7.79 Cr a year earlier. Net margin swung to 4.4% from -1.2% year-ago and 1.3% last quarter — an unambiguous margin expansion, and the turnaround is understated because this quarter absorbs a ₹16.65 Cr prior-period differential energy charge (CERC/GUVNL, covering Oct-2018 to Dec-2023) that the auditor flagged as an Emphasis of Matter; excluding it, PBT would be roughly ₹128 Cr rather than the reported ₹111.62 Cr.

The swing is an operating-cost story, not a topline one. Management attributes it to a sharply higher renewable share in the power basket — 59% in Q1 FY27 versus 39% a year ago — which, alongside firmer caustic-soda realisations, drove EBITDA up ~83% YoY to ~₹229 Cr per the company's release. Power, fuel and utilities remain the single largest cost line (₹370.98 Cr), so the renewable mix is the lever that most moves margins here; the consolidated result also benefited from the JV/associate line flipping to +₹1.58 Cr from -₹21.57 Cr year-ago.

The stock went into the print at ₹684.25, up 6.3% over the past month of trading.

For context: this is the highest quarterly PAT in the last 6 quarters on our records; PAT has now risen for 2 consecutive quarters; revenue is at a 6-quarter high.

Consolidated EPS ₹7.49 (standalone ₹7.27) vs -₹1.88 year-ago

GACL is thinly covered and no formal brokerage consensus for the quarter was on record, so the print is best read against the company's own framing of a 'record' quarter, which the numbers support; management publishes no formal profit guidance. Concurrent with the result the board granted in-principle approval for a second ₹55 Cr HCL synthesis unit at Dahej to improve chlorine utilisation and feed the already-approved phosphoric acid plant, and cleared a Vision 2047 document — capex-forward signals rather than near-term earnings drivers. The standalone and consolidated stories are directionally identical (both turnarounds), so the ₹53.40 Cr vs ₹54.98 Cr gap is immaterial.