ZF Steering Q1: consol PAT +60% YoY to ₹11.4 Cr, driven by other income not ops

ZF Steering Gear (India) reported consolidated Q1 FY27 net profit of ₹11.42 Cr, up ~60% from ₹7.15 Cr a year ago and a sequential swing back to profit from a ₹0.89 Cr net loss in Q4 FY26, on revenue of ₹143.06 Cr (+7.6% YoY, -17.9% QoQ off a seasonally heavier March quarter). The headline looks strong, but the profit lift is largely non-operating: consolidated other income jumped to ₹14.79 Cr from ₹5.40 Cr a year ago, while operating EBITDA margin actually compressed to roughly 9.3% from 13.7% YoY. Net margin therefore expanded (to ~8% from 5.2%) even as the core operating margin slipped. Standalone tells the same story more starkly — PAT ₹18.52 Cr (+55% YoY, EPS ₹20.41) on ₹137.78 Cr revenue, with ₹18.84 Cr of other income against a ₹24.10 Cr pre-tax profit; the parent is far more profitable than the group.

The gap between standalone (₹18.52 Cr) and consolidated (₹11.42 Cr) PAT is the drag from three subsidiaries, which together posted a ₹4.90 Cr net loss on ₹45.74 Cr of income — the new-venture build-out. That build-out is visible in the quarter's corporate actions: subsidiary DriveSys revised its aluminium project cost up to ₹150 Cr from ₹100 Cr (₹118 Cr already incurred), Metacast Auto is expanding capacity to 25,000 MTPA, and the company inked an EHPAS steering pact with China's Hubei Tri-Ring — capex-heavy moves that will keep subsidiary losses in the near term. Underlying operations did improve: the Auto Components segment result rose to ₹10.20 Cr from ₹4.69 Cr YoY and Renewable Energy held at ₹2.99 Cr, so demand is firm; the caveat is quality of profit, not direction. Management gives no formal earnings guidance and issued no results press release, and there is no analyst consensus for this microcap, so the print stands on its own. No exceptional items this quarter.

The stock went into the print at ₹735, up 5.6% over the past month of trading.

For context: this is the highest quarterly PAT in the last 6 quarters on our records.