Smartworks swings to ₹13.1 Cr consolidated PAT as revenue jumps 44% YoY; profit slips QoQ

Smartworks Coworking posted its first-quarter print for FY27 as a clean turnaround on a year-on-year basis: consolidated revenue from operations rose 44.0% YoY to ₹546.2 Cr (from ₹379.2 Cr) and the group swung to a net profit of ₹13.1 Cr, versus a ₹4.2 Cr loss in the year-ago June quarter. Basic EPS was ₹1.15 against a ₹0.41 loss per share a year earlier. Standalone told the same story on a slightly softer scale — revenue ₹527.7 Cr, PAT ₹10.3 Cr — with the ₹2.9 Cr consolidated uplift coming from the four subsidiaries (three unreviewed subs alone contributed ₹3.1 Cr of PAT), so the two bases are directionally identical and neither contradicts the other.

The profit is operating, not one-off driven: there are no exceptional items on either side, so the YoY swing from loss to profit is underlying. The business runs on an Ind AS 116 lease model where a ~65% operating (EBITDA-style) margin is almost entirely consumed below the line by depreciation of ₹245.7 Cr and finance costs of ₹96.1 Cr, leaving a thin 2.4% net margin — the structural reason a fast-growing topline only now clears breakeven. That thinness also explains the sequential wobble: against a seasonally strong Q4 FY26 (PAT ₹16.6 Cr, revenue ₹519.7 Cr), profit fell ~21% QoQ and net margin compressed from 3.1% to 2.4% even as revenue grew 5.1% QoQ — incremental depreciation and finance cost from newly opened centres outran the revenue add. YoY remains the fair read here; the QoQ dip is the cost of front-loaded capacity, not demand weakness.

The stock went into the print at ₹508, up 8.6% over the past month of trading.

For context: this is the second-highest quarterly PAT of the last 5 quarters; revenue is at a 5-quarter high.

That capacity build is visible in the quarter's corporate activity: expansion signings through July (1,100+ seats for L&T in Pune, 2.47 lakh sq ft in Jaipur, 930 seats to a UK firm's India arm, 1.64 lakh sq ft in Pune) and the completed Workstudio Spaces Singapore acquisition (SGD 2.47M / ₹18.2 Cr, closed Jul 7) mark the first overseas step. Management gives no formal profit guidance; its framing rests on contracted rental visibility (public commentary cites contracted revenue covering ~82.5% of projected FY27 revenue). No published street consensus PAT estimate exists for this recently listed name — the only public marker is a broker price target contingent on Q1 'meeting expectations' — so this print cannot be scored beat/miss against a number. IPO proceeds remain the growth fuel: of the ₹445 Cr fresh issue, ₹374.8 Cr was deployed by June 30 (₹114 Cr debt repayment, ₹159.7 Cr fit-out capex), with ₹70.2 Cr still unutilised.