Route Mobile Q1: PAT +16.6% YoY to ₹68.6 Cr, but margin ~9% misses 12% EBITDA guide

Route Mobile's Q1 FY27 (consolidated) came in ahead on the topline and steady on YoY profit: revenue of ₹1,151.51 Cr rose 9.6% YoY (+1.8% QoQ) and net profit of ₹68.55 Cr rose 16.6% YoY, with basic EPS of ₹9.94 (profit attributable to owners ₹62.61 Cr). The print cleared the only modeled street estimate on record (Univest/Uniresearch pegged revenue at ₹951–1,071 Cr). Crucially, there were no exceptional items this quarter, so the +16.6% YoY PAT growth is fully underlying — reported equals adjusted — unlike FY26, which carried ₹135.87 Cr of exceptional write-offs.

The sequential and margin picture is where the quarter disappoints. PAT fell ~40% QoQ off an unusually strong Q4 (₹114.43 Cr), and operating margin of ~9.2% sits well short of the ~12% EBITDA margin management guided to on the Q4 concall — so revenue growth meets the high-single-digit guide but the margin prong misses. The QoQ squeeze sits on two lines: other income halved to ₹11.06 Cr (from ₹27.85 Cr), and the India segment swung to a −₹4.0 Cr result on a 10% QoQ revenue drop to ₹236.21 Cr. Messaging-purchase cost at ₹911.07 Cr — 79% of revenue — keeps the CPaaS pass-through economics thin.

The stock went into the print at ₹568.55, up 6.6% over the past month of trading.

The group was carried by Overseas (₹1,063 Cr revenue, ₹85.67 Cr segment result), which is why standalone tells a materially different story from consolidated and should not be mistaken for it: standalone (parent) revenue was ₹197.93 Cr with PAT of just ₹16.16 Cr, down ~47% YoY, versus consolidated PAT up 17% — the divergence reflects weak India operations and dividend-income timing at the parent, with the overseas subsidiaries driving group earnings. The Board declared a ₹4/share first interim dividend (40%), directionally consistent with the guided intent to lift the regular dividend. Management framed the quarter as 'resilience in a challenging market environment' with 'healthy traffic growth'; the numbers back the traffic/topline claim but sit against the stable-~12%-EBITDA projection, which this quarter did not deliver.