Gaja AMC: core fee revenue down 49% YoY as Q1 PAT surges on lumpy other income

Gaja Alternative Asset Management's first quarterly print as a listed company shows consolidated PAT (owners) of ₹26.82 Cr for Q1 FY27, up 35.7% YoY from ₹19.77 Cr — but the headline flatters an underlying core business that shrank. Revenue from operations, largely AMC management fees, fell 49.2% YoY to ₹15.64 Cr (₹30.76 Cr in Q1 FY26) and 20.3% QoQ (₹19.62 Cr in Q4 FY26). Total income of ₹51.83 Cr (+25.7% YoY) was propped up almost entirely by other income of ₹36.19 Cr (₹10.46 Cr a year ago, just ₹1.28 Cr last quarter) — the carried-interest/investment-income line that Sushil Finance's pre-listing note flagged as the key swing risk to watch.

Consolidated net profit margin rose to 51.75% from 47.96% YoY, but this is a mix effect, not operating leverage: total expenses of ₹19.90 Cr actually exceeded revenue from operations, meaning the core management-fee business ran at an operating shortfall this quarter and the entire reported profit came from the volatile other-income line. The tax charge was almost entirely deferred (₹4.64 Cr of the ₹4.71 Cr consolidated tax expense), with current tax of only ₹0.07 Cr — a pattern also seen in the prior (Q4 FY26) quarter.

Management has issued no formal guidance on record, and with the stock listed only since August 26, 2026, no post-listing analyst consensus yet exists to benchmark against — pre-listing IPO notes (Kantilal Chhaganlal, Swastika, Sushil Finance) ranged from Subscribe to Cautious, with Sushil explicitly warning about swing-driven other-income growth and heavy allocation to unproven new funds such as Fund V. Against our own pre-result expectation (~₹35-42 Cr revenue, 48-54% PAT margin), the quarter came in ahead on the total-income line (₹51.8 Cr) and within range on margin (51.75%), but the beat is entirely a function of the other-income swing the preview flagged as a risk, not of AUM or fee growth. Standalone PAT of ₹14.01 Cr (on ₹34.20 Cr total income) compares with consolidated ₹26.82 Cr — the gap is driven mainly by an unreviewed foreign (Cayman) subsidiary that contributed ₹13.11 Cr of pre-consolidation PAT.