Mold-Tek Q1: sales cross ₹300 Cr (+24.9% YoY) but PAT lags at +14% as D&A, finance costs bite

Mold-Tek Packaging opened FY27 with revenue of ₹300.45 Cr, up 24.9% YoY (₹240.56 Cr) and 26.3% sequentially, crossing the ₹300 Cr quarterly mark for the first time on 6.25% YoY volume growth to 12,089 MT and firm realisations. Reported PAT rose 14.2% YoY to ₹25.57 Cr (₹22.40 Cr), or ~18-19% on an adjusted basis once the ₹0.82 Cr exceptional gain that inflated the year-ago base is stripped out. The clear tension in the print is that profit growth trailed topline: net margin slipped to 8.5% from 9.3% a year ago, even as the operating story stayed strong — EBITDA rose 19.1% YoY to ₹56.43 Cr and EBITDA/kg hit a historical high of ₹46.68 (vs ₹41.64 in Q1 FY26), well above the ₹42.5-43 management guided for FY27.

The margin bridge sits below the operating line: depreciation climbed 17.9% YoY to ₹16.55 Cr and finance costs jumped ~37.7% to ₹5.72 Cr, both flowing from the recent capex and the consolidation of five Hyderabad units into two (Annaram and Sultanpur), which lifted capacity utilisation to ~75% and brought printing under one roof. Management frames this as the driver of the record EBITDA/kg and expects the positive momentum to hold, led by Pharma Packs (+38.75% volume, a new high-margin vertical now adding clients and eyeing ophthalmic/medical-device packs), Food & FMCG (+26.2%, with eight new moulding machines commissioned at Sultanpur and Panipat output doubled) and Paints (+10.82%); Lube packs dipped on Iran-war-related client input issues.

The stock went into the print at ₹713.55, up 3.5% 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.

Against the FY27 guidance given on the May concall — 13-15% value growth toward >₹1,000 Cr revenue, ~20% EBITDA growth to ₹210 Cr, and EBITDA/kg of ₹42.5-43 — the quarter runs ahead on value growth and EBITDA/kg but light on volume: 6.25% YoY volume is below the 10-13% guided pace, the number to watch. Street context is full-year rather than quarterly (consensus ~₹927 Cr FY27 revenue / +23% EPS, +15-20% PAT); this print annualises ahead on topline but PAT growth is running a touch below that pace, consistent with the below-the-line drag. The board also declared results alongside a trading-window closure; a ₹2 interim dividend was declared in April.