Revenue growth outpaced costs, lifting Manipal's operating margin
Q2 consolidated net profit rose 4.09% QoQ despite a higher tax rate, while operating margin remained below the financial-services peer median.
Filed 04 Nov 2026, 00:04 IST · Manipal Payment and Identity Solutions Ltd (MPIMANIPAL)
Key takeaways
- Consolidated revenue grew 2.73% QoQ, ahead of 1.47% expense growth, lifting operating margin by 0.86 percentage points to 30.50%.
- Net profit rose 4.09% QoQ to Rs 80.88 cr even as the tax rate increased by 0.80 percentage points to 26.53%.
- The 30.50% operating margin was 18.35 percentage points below the 48.85% median of 80 reported financial-services peers.
Price around the results
Revenue growth gave margins a lift in Q2
Revenue grew 2.73% QoQ, ahead of the 1.47% increase in expenses, which helped operating profit rise 5.72% and expanded operating margin by 0.86 percentage points. Depreciation increased 12.65% and interest rose 1.05%, limiting the conversion of operating profit into pre-tax profit. Consolidated profit before tax still increased 5.22% QoQ.
Higher tax reduced profit conversion
Net profit grew 4.09% QoQ, slower than pre-tax profit, as the tax rate rose by 0.80 percentage points to 26.53%. Other income accounted for 5.41% of pre-tax profit, so the quarter's earnings were not primarily driven by non-operating income. The higher tax rate, rather than other income, was the clearer factor tempering profit growth.
Margin improved sequentially but trails sector peers
The operating margin improved from 29.64% in Q1FY27 to 30.50% in Q2FY27, extending the quarter-on-quarter improvement visible in the supplied trend. It remained 18.35 percentage points below the 48.85% median for the 80 financial-services peers that had reported. This places the quarter's margin 22nd from the bottom among that comparison set.
Management points to cards, tax stamps and IoT expansion
Management said the tax-stamp business is ready to scale beyond India, while the presentation said annual metal-card capacity is 670,000 cards. The company said its excise-label offering covers secure printing, serialization, dispatch and field verification, and that it has four ST-IoT plants across Manipal, Bengaluru and Vijayawada. Management also highlighted new multi-year Smart Tagging and IoT contracts and projects for transport authorities in Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh.
Q2FY27 at a glance
Consolidated figures as filed with NSE — filed ahead of third-party databases, not yet independently cross-checked.
| Line item | Q2FY27 | Q1FY27 | QoQ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | ₹430 cr | ₹419 cr | +2.73% |
| Other income | ₹6 cr | ₹5 cr | +18.02% |
| Expenses | ₹299 cr | ₹295 cr | +1.47% |
| Operating profit | ₹131 cr | ₹124 cr | +5.72% |
| Operating margin (%) | 30.50% | 29.64% | — |
| Interest | ₹5 cr | ₹5 cr | +1.05% |
| Depreciation | ₹22 cr | ₹20 cr | +12.65% |
| Profit before tax | ₹110 cr | ₹105 cr | +5.22% |
| Tax | ₹29 cr | ₹27 cr | +8.47% |
| Net profit | ₹81 cr | ₹78 cr | +4.09% |
| EPS (₹) | ₹3.63 | ₹3.49 | +4.01% |
Operating margin of 30.50% compares with a Financial Services sector median of 48.85% across 80 peers that have reported Q2FY27.
What management said
From the company’s own investor presentation. Each point is checked against the source document before it appears here.
This quarter
- Metal cards were launched with food-and-beverage and fintech leaders in Q1 FY27.
Guidance & outlook
- The tax-stamp business is ready to scale beyond India.
Expansion
- The company has annual capacity to produce 670,000 metal cards.
New orders
- Smart Tagging and IoT secured new multi-year contracts.
- The company is executing projects for transport authorities in Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh.
New initiatives
- The excise-label offering covers secure printing, serialization, dispatch and field verification.
- The company has four ST-IoT plants across Manipal, Bengaluru and Vijayawada.
- NCMC usage is scaling across mobility networks in India.
Competition
- The company supplies the top four Indian card issuers, representing about 70% of cards in circulation.
What to watch
- Operating margin in the next quarter against the 30.50% reported for Q2FY27.
- The next-quarter tax rate against 26.53%, given the 0.80-percentage-point QoQ increase.
- Updates on the 670,000-card annual capacity and the four ST-IoT plants.