Dredging Corp margin improves as quarterly revenue falls 40.56%
Faster expense reduction lifted operating margin by 2.06 percentage points, but net profit fell 34.96% sequentially on lower operating profit.
Filed 10 Nov 2026, 19:57 IST · after market close · Dredging Corporation of India Ltd (DREDGECORP)
Key takeaways
- Standalone revenue fell 40.56% QoQ, but expenses declined faster at 42.05%, lifting operating margin by 2.06 percentage points.
- Net profit fell 34.96% QoQ as lower operating profit outweighed a 12.35% decline in interest costs, while the 2.63% tax rate supported earnings.
- The 19.47% operating margin was 1.49 percentage points above the 17.98% median for 60 reported Services peers.
Price around the results
Lower revenue was partly offset by tighter costs
Standalone revenue declined to Rs 211.28 cr from Rs 355.43 cr in Q1FY27, while expenses fell faster, to Rs 170.13 cr from Rs 293.56 cr. That cost reduction limited the operating-profit decline to 33.49%, against a 40.56% fall in revenue. Operating margin therefore improved to 19.47% from 17.41%.
Low tax rate softened the decline in reported profit
Profit before tax fell 34.70% QoQ as lower operating profit more than offset a 12.35% reduction in interest costs and a 38.53% decline in depreciation. Net profit declined 34.96%, broadly tracking the pre-tax fall. The tax rate rose 0.37 percentage points to 2.63%, but remained low enough to support reported earnings; other income contributed 7.32% of pre-tax profit.
Margin moved above the Services peer median
The quarter-to-quarter margin improvement puts Dredging Corporation's 19.47% operating margin 1.49 percentage points above the 17.98% median among 60 Services companies that have reported. The available trend shows a second-quarter comparison against Q1FY27, when margin was 17.41%; it does not establish a longer multi-quarter direction.
Initial market reaction was mixed
After the results were filed after market close, the stock opened 3.55% above the prior close but the t0 return was -0.57%. It underperformed the reference market by 1.41% at t0, with volume at 14.42 times the usual level.
Q2FY27 at a glance
Standalone figures as filed with NSE — filed ahead of third-party databases, not yet independently cross-checked.
| Line item | Q2FY27 | Q1FY27 | QoQ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | ₹211 cr | ₹355 cr | -40.56% |
| Other income | ₹1 cr | ₹1 cr | -46.60% |
| Expenses | ₹170 cr | ₹294 cr | -42.05% |
| Operating profit | ₹41 cr | ₹62 cr | -33.49% |
| Operating margin (%) | 19.47% | 17.41% | — |
| Interest | ₹9 cr | ₹10 cr | -12.35% |
| Depreciation | ₹26 cr | ₹42 cr | -38.53% |
| Profit before tax | ₹8 cr | ₹12 cr | -34.70% |
| Tax | ₹0 cr | ₹0 cr | -23.08% |
| Net profit | ₹7 cr | ₹11 cr | -34.96% |
| EPS (₹) | ₹2.61 | ₹4.01 | -34.91% |
Operating margin of 19.47% compares with a Services sector median of 17.98% across 60 peers that have reported Q2FY27.
How the stock reacted
| Window | Stock | vs NIFTY |
|---|---|---|
| Results day | -0.57% | -1.41% |
Volume on the results session was 14.42× its 20-day average.
What to watch
- Whether revenue recovers from Rs 211.28 cr after the 40.56% QoQ decline.
- Whether operating margin holds above 19.47% after the 2.06-percentage-point improvement.
- Whether the tax rate remains near 2.63% as net profit tracks operating performance.