Prestige's margin recovers sequentially but remains below last year's Q4
Revenue rose +5.20% QoQ while expenses increased only +0.52%, but higher interest and a tax-rate rebound limited the earnings improvement.
Filed 21 May 2026, 21:42 IST · after market close · Prestige Estates Projects Ltd (PRESTIGE)
Key takeaways
- Consolidated operating margin recovered 3.45 percentage points QoQ to 25.66%, but remained 9.74 percentage points below Q4FY25.
- Revenue grew +166.54% YoY while expenses grew +206.73%, making faster cost growth the reason for the year-on-year margin squeeze.
- The stock gained +0.21% in the first session after the results, versus a 2.38% median absolute move after its past eight results.
Price around the results
Q4 margin recovery was driven by operating leverage
Prestige Estates Projects reported consolidated revenue growth of +5.20% QoQ, while expenses rose only +0.52%; operating margin therefore expanded by 3.45 percentage points to 25.66%. The year-on-year comparison was weaker on costs: expenses grew +206.73% against revenue growth of +166.54%, reducing margin by 9.74 percentage points. Net profit growth of +577.03% YoY was also helped by the tax rate falling 21.23 percentage points to 29.29%.
Interest increased and other income supported reported profit
Interest costs rose +11.93% QoQ and +50.16% YoY, limiting the conversion of operating profit into pre-tax profit. Other income accounted for 8.38% of pre-tax profit, so reported earnings were not entirely operating-led. The QoQ tax-rate increase of 17.22 percentage points to 29.29% also reduced the benefit from the operating recovery.
Margin remains above the peer median after a volatile year
The 25.66% operating margin was 10.85 percentage points above the 14.81% median for 93 Consumer Discretionary peers that had reported the quarter. Within Prestige's recent trend, margin fell from 38.74% in Q1FY26 to 37.41% in Q2FY26 and 22.21% in Q3FY26 before recovering in Q4. The sequential improvement therefore breaks the recent decline, but does not restore the levels seen in the first half of FY26.
Initial market reaction was within Prestige's usual range
The results were filed after market close; the stock opened with a +1.65% gap and ended the first session +0.21%. It was down -1.98% by the fifth session, before a +20.76% return over 30 sessions. Across the past eight result reactions, four were positive and four negative, with a 2.38% median absolute move, making the initial response broadly ordinary.
Q4FY26 at a glance
Consolidated figures as filed with NSE — cross-checked against an independent source.
| Line item | Q4FY26 | Q3FY26 | QoQ | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | ₹4,074 cr | ₹3,873 cr | +5.20% | +166.54% |
| Other income | ₹35 cr | ₹36 cr | -2.81% | -29.10% |
| Expenses | ₹3,028 cr | ₹3,013 cr | +0.52% | +206.73% |
| Operating profit | ₹1,046 cr | ₹860 cr | +21.57% | +93.22% |
| Operating margin (%) | 25.66% | 22.21% | — | — |
| Interest | ₹430 cr | ₹384 cr | +11.93% | +50.16% |
| Depreciation | ₹238 cr | ₹234 cr | +1.84% | +9.74% |
| Profit before tax | ₹413 cr | ₹278 cr | +48.29% | +373.82% |
| Tax | ₹121 cr | ₹34 cr | +259.82% | +174.77% |
| Net profit | ₹292 cr | ₹245 cr | +19.25% | +577.03% |
| EPS (₹) | ₹5.81 | ₹5.17 | +12.38% | +901.72% |
Operating margin of 25.66% compares with a Consumer Discretionary sector median of 14.81% across 93 peers that have reported Q4FY26.
How the stock reacted
| Window | Stock | vs NIFTY |
|---|---|---|
| Results day | +0.21% | -0.06% |
| Next session | +1.14% | — |
| 5 sessions | -1.98% | -0.83% |
| 15 sessions | +6.27% | — |
| 30 sessions | +20.76% | — |
Volume on the results session was 2.53× its 20-day average.
What to watch
- Whether consolidated operating margin holds above 25.66% after the Q4FY26 recovery.
- Whether expense growth remains below revenue growth, following +0.52% expense growth versus +5.20% revenue growth QoQ.
- The tax rate and interest cost after the QoQ changes of +17.22 percentage points and +11.93%, respectively.