MPS Q1: consolidated PAT ₹50.4 Cr, +43% YoY; margins expand, Corporate Learning turns

MPS Limited opened FY27 with a broad-based beat: consolidated revenue of ₹224.2 Cr grew 20.4% YoY (9.3% QoQ) and net profit rose to ₹50.4 Cr, up 43.0% YoY (7.1% QoQ), lifting EPS to ₹29.70 from ₹20.78 a year ago. With no exceptional items on either side of the comparison bar a tiny ₹0.63 Cr prior-year restructuring loss, the underlying growth (~40% adjusted) is essentially the reported number — this is a genuinely strong print, not an accounting artifact. Revenue landed at the upper end of the only public model (Univest's ₹201–232 Cr trailing-growth range); there is no formal brokerage consensus for this small/mid-cap, so treat the beat as against a mechanical estimate rather than a street poll.

The quality is in the margins. Net profit margin expanded to 22.5% from 18.2% a year ago (roughly flat vs 22.2% last quarter), and operating profitability widened sharply — Q1 EBITDA of ~₹77 Cr implies an OPM near 34% against 26.7% in Q1 FY26 — as employee cost was held nearly flat YoY (₹83.9 Cr vs ₹82.0 Cr) while revenue climbed. Segmentally, the turnaround management flagged on the Q4 concall is visible: Corporate Learning segment result more than doubled to ₹5.1 Cr from ₹2.5 Cr on revenue of ₹27.6 Cr, Education solutions revenue jumped 42% YoY to ₹73.4 Cr (aided by the Feb-2026 Unbound Medicine acquisition), and Research solutions grew ~13% to ₹123.2 Cr. Standalone tells the same story (revenue ₹124.4 Cr, PAT ₹41.0 Cr, +42.5% YoY), so the two bases do not diverge materially.

The stock went into the print at ₹2,137.1, up 18.7% over the past month of trading.

For context: this is the second-highest quarterly PAT of the last 6 quarters; revenue is at a 6-quarter high.

Against guidance, the quarter is on track: management guided FY27 EBITDA to comfortably cross ₹300 Cr, and a ~₹77 Cr Q1 run-rate annualises to ~₹308 Cr, with the Unbound margin-accretion thesis (targeted 25–30% exit EBITDA margin) consistent with the OPM already printed. Alongside results, the board approved a small (up to ₹1 Cr) wholly owned Singapore subsidiary — immaterial to numbers, framed as an APAC go-to-market base — and the ADI BPO amalgamation cleared a key hurdle, with NCLT-directed shareholder/creditor meetings set for 22 August 2026 (no accounting effect taken yet). A CRO appointment rounds out the board actions. The read into Q2: margin durability as Unbound integrates and whether Corporate Learning's turnaround holds sequentially.