Power Grid’s margin rebounds, but net profit slips 0.89% YoY
Lower expenses lifted operating margin 1.26 percentage points YoY; a 131.31-point QoQ tax-rate swing makes the sequential profit comparison noisy.
Filed 05 Aug 2026, 22:43 IST · after market close · Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (POWERGRID)
Key takeaways
- Operating margin expanded 1.26 percentage points YoY as revenue grew 2.68% while expenses fell 4.35%.
- Profit before tax rose 7.04% YoY, but net profit declined 0.89% to Rs 3,598.42 cr.
- Power Grid’s 82.95% operating margin was 45.93 percentage points above the Utilities median across 18 reported peers.
Price around the results
Margin recovered sharply from Q4FY26
In consolidated results, revenue fell 1.45% QoQ, but expenses declined 24.61%, allowing operating profit to rise 5.19% and operating margin to expand 5.24 percentage points. The YoY improvement was steadier: revenue grew 2.68% while expenses fell 4.35%, widening margin by 1.26 percentage points. The margin recovery from 77.71% in Q4FY26 puts the quarter closer to the company’s recent high levels.
Tax movement complicated profit conversion
Profit before tax increased 7.04% YoY, while net profit fell 0.89%; tax expense still rose 1.70% despite the reported tax rate declining 1.01 percentage points to 19.24%. Sequentially, profit before tax rose 17.07%, but net profit fell 20.85% as the tax rate moved from a negative 112.07% in Q4FY26 to 19.24%. Other income contributed 4.41% of profit before tax, so it was not the main source of earnings.
Margin remains far ahead of reported Utilities peers
Power Grid’s 82.95% operating margin was 45.93 percentage points above the 37.02% median for 18 Utilities peers that had reported the same quarter. The quarterly trend shows a rebound from 77.71% in Q4FY26 after 85.95% in Q3FY26, so the latest result reverses the previous quarter’s decline but remains below the Q3 peak.
No immediate market reaction after the filing
The consolidated results were filed after market close, so there was no current-session reaction to assess. Across the last eight results, the stock fell after seven and rose after one, with a median absolute move of 2.02%, indicating that post-results moves have usually been negative but relatively contained.
Q1FY27 at a glance
Consolidated figures as filed with NSE — cross-checked against an independent source.
| Line item | Q1FY27 | Q4FY26 | QoQ | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | ₹11,497 cr | ₹11,666 cr | -1.45% | +2.68% |
| Other income | ₹202 cr | ₹322 cr | -37.20% | -0.74% |
| Expenses | ₹1,960 cr | ₹2,600 cr | -24.61% | -4.35% |
| Operating profit | ₹9,536 cr | ₹9,066 cr | +5.19% | +4.26% |
| Operating margin (%) | 82.95% | 77.71% | — | — |
| Interest | ₹2,023 cr | ₹2,175 cr | -6.98% | +4.58% |
| Depreciation | ₹3,128 cr | ₹3,295 cr | -5.04% | -0.06% |
| Profit before tax | ₹4,587 cr | ₹3,918 cr | +17.07% | +7.04% |
| Tax | ₹883 cr | ₹-4,391 cr | — | +1.70% |
| Net profit | ₹3,598 cr | ₹4,546 cr | -20.85% | -0.89% |
| EPS (₹) | ₹3.87 | ₹4.89 | -20.86% | -0.77% |
Operating margin of 82.95% compares with a Utilities sector median of 37.02% across 18 peers that have reported Q1FY27.
What to watch
- Whether operating margin holds above 82.95% after the 5.24-percentage-point QoQ rebound.
- Whether revenue returns to sequential growth after the latest -1.45% QoQ change.
- Whether interest expense remains below Rs 2,022.94 cr after falling 6.98% QoQ.