LT Foods Q1: revenue +28% YoY, EBITDA margin widens; consol PAT +9% to ₹183 Cr

LT Foods opened FY27 with its strongest topline print yet: consolidated revenue rose 27.9% YoY to ₹3,151.8 Cr (up 8.4% QoQ) and operating (EBITDA) margin expanded to ~11.2% from 10.8% a year ago and 9.3% last quarter — the recovery management had guided toward as U.S. tariff and brand-investment drags normalise. Reported consolidated PAT, however, grew only 8.9% YoY to ₹183.4 Cr (EPS ₹5.28), well behind revenue. The gap is entirely non-operating: other income collapsed to ₹9.5 Cr from ₹37.1 Cr a year ago, finance costs climbed to ₹40.3 Cr (from ₹28.0 Cr) on a larger working-capital base, depreciation rose to ₹74.1 Cr, and the associate/JV contribution shrank to ₹0.9 Cr from ₹6.2 Cr. Net margin therefore compressed to 5.8% YoY (from 6.7%) even as the core business margin improved — so this is an operating beat with a non-operating drag, not an earnings slowdown.

The 35% QoQ jump in PAT flatters the print and should be read cautiously: Q4 FY26 carried an inventory build (changes in inventories were a large negative), so the sequential bounce is partly a base effect rather than a fresh acceleration. On a YoY basis — the fairer lens — the operating engine did the work: revenue up nearly 28% against management's long-term 10-12% growth frame, with the RTH/branded push and global demand driving volume. Standalone tells a softer story (revenue ₹1,172.1 Cr, PAT ₹70.2 Cr), with the export/subsidiary layer carrying the growth; the auditor flags eleven unreviewed subsidiaries running a combined ₹19.4 Cr net loss for the quarter, a reminder the consolidated margin is still absorbing overseas start-up/tariff costs.

The stock went into the print at ₹386.05, up 2.9% over the past month of trading.

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

Against prior guidance the quarter is on track: revenue is comfortably ahead of the 10-12% frame and OPM is climbing toward the promised ~12%, though not there yet. Corporate activity this quarter was expansion-led — a new wholly owned Australian subsidiary (LT Foods Australia PTY, incorporated June 23, 2026) and the DAAWAT World Biryani Day brand push — consistent with the capex-heavy, Ready-to-Heat-led strategy where new capacity is slated to come online in Q2 FY27. The Ecopure U.S. countervailing-duty matter (rate cut to 75.48% from 340.27%, under appeal with a CIT injunction) and the ₹134.1 Cr Daawat Foods insurance claim remain open but carry no P&L impact this quarter.