Home First Q1 posts standalone PAT ₹160 Cr, up 34% YoY on NIM expansion; beats Street

Home First Finance opened FY27 with a clean beat. Standalone PAT rose to ₹159.85 Cr, up 34.4% year-on-year (and 7.0% sequentially), well ahead of revenue growth of 18.6% YoY (₹538.01 Cr) — the classic sign of margin expansion. Net profit margin widened to 29.6% from 26.1% a year ago (flat versus Q4's 29.6%), and basic EPS of ₹15.31 came in above the ~₹14.43 the Street was modelling, an ~6% earnings beat. There are no exceptional items; the print is fully operating, with a modest ₹2.25 Cr deferred-tax credit trimming the effective tax rate to ~23% (from ~24% YoY).

The margin story sits on the funding line. Interest income grew ~17% YoY to ₹461.97 Cr, but finance costs rose only ~4% to ₹208.45 Cr — the rate cycle and a fully floating-rate book are feeding spread, exactly the 5–5.25% portfolio-spread target management set on the Q4 call. That confirms rather than contradicts the confident, optimistic guidance from May: ~18.6% revenue and ~17% interest-income growth are consistent with the ~25% FY27 AUM-growth trajectory management is chasing, though AUM itself is not disclosed in this P&L. The one line to watch is credit cost — impairment on financial instruments climbed to ₹15.90 Cr from ₹11.68 Cr a year ago (+36%), still a small share of income but rising faster than the book, against management's stated 30–40 bps credit-cost band.

The stock went into the print at ₹1,182.5, down 0.8% 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 5 consecutive quarters; revenue is at a 6-quarter high.

Revenue from operations ₹538.01 Cr, +18.6% YoY (+7.3% QoQ) — total income ₹539.84 Cr

On corporate developments, the quarter carried a management overhang the numbers can't speak to: the CFO resigned (announced 25 June) and new auditors were appointed alongside a director departure — governance items investors will probe on the 28 July earnings call. Operationally the company also paid its ₹5.20/share FY26 dividend during the quarter and issued ~1.97 lakh ESOP shares. No formal quarterly EPS/PAT guidance is given by management; the read-across is the AUM/spread/credit-cost framework, all of which this print keeps on track.