Centum expands operating margin as revenue growth outpaces costs
Consolidated revenue rose +52.86% qoq, while a lower tax rate supported the sharp increase in profit before tax.
Filed 04 Nov 2026, 17:10 IST · after market close · Centum Electronics Ltd (CENTUM)
Key takeaways
- Revenue grew +52.86% qoq while expenses rose +50.83%, lifting operating margin by 1.18 percentage points.
- Profit before tax increased +93.42% qoq, helped by a 3.92-percentage-point fall in the tax rate, while other income contributed 7.55% of PBT.
- Centum’s 12.72% operating margin was 0.48 percentage points above the 12.24% median for 143 Industrials peers that reported.
Price around the results
Revenue growth outpaced expense growth in Q2FY27
Centum’s consolidated revenue grew +52.86% qoq, while expenses increased +50.83%, allowing operating profit to rise +68.42%. That operating leverage lifted the operating margin by 1.18 percentage points to 12.72%. The results were filed after market close on 4 November 2026.
Lower tax rate supported pre-tax profit growth
Profit before tax increased +93.42% qoq, faster than operating profit, despite interest expense rising +23.30%. The tax rate fell 3.92 percentage points to 25.68%, which supported the increase in reported profit after tax. Other income was 7.55% of pre-tax profit, so it was a meaningful but not dominant part of earnings.
Margin was slightly above the Industrials peer median
Centum’s 12.72% operating margin was 0.48 percentage points above the 12.24% median among 143 Industrials companies that had reported the same quarter. Sequentially, margin improved from 11.54% in Q1FY27, marking a second-quarter comparison with better operating profitability.
Q2FY27 at a glance
Consolidated figures as filed with NSE — cross-checked against an independent source.
| Line item | Q2FY27 | Q1FY27 | QoQ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | ₹312 cr | ₹204 cr | +52.86% |
| Other income | ₹2 cr | ₹2 cr | +0.87% |
| Expenses | ₹272 cr | ₹181 cr | +50.83% |
| Operating profit | ₹40 cr | ₹24 cr | +68.42% |
| Operating margin (%) | 12.72% | 11.54% | — |
| Interest | ₹5 cr | ₹4 cr | +23.30% |
| Depreciation | ₹6 cr | ₹6 cr | +3.82% |
| Profit before tax | ₹31 cr | ₹16 cr | +93.42% |
| Tax | ₹8 cr | ₹5 cr | +67.80% |
| Net profit | ₹23 cr | ₹106 cr | -78.27% |
| EPS (₹) | ₹15.53 | ₹71.47 | -78.27% |
Operating margin of 12.72% compares with a Industrials sector median of 12.24% across 143 peers that have reported Q2FY27.
What to watch
- Whether operating margin holds above 12.72% after the 1.18-percentage-point qoq improvement.
- Whether expenses continue to grow more slowly than revenue after the +50.83% qoq increase.
- Whether the tax rate remains below 25.68% and interest growth moderates from +23.30%.