ACE equipment volumes rise 19.8% as agricultural sales fall

In Q2-FY27, ACE’s cranes, construction equipment and material-handling equipment sales volume rose 19.8% year on year to 2,812 units, while agricultural-equipment volume fell 17.1% to 436 units. The quarterly figures show that unit growth was concentrated in ACE’s non-agricultural equipment category, with agricultural equipment declining against both Q2-FY26 and Q1-FY27.

How did ACE’s segment volumes change in Q2-FY27?

ACE sold 2,812 cranes, construction equipment and material-handling equipment units in Q2-FY27, up 464 units from 2,348 in Q2-FY26 and 72 units from 2,740 in Q1-FY27. The year-on-year increase was 19.8%, while the quarter-on-quarter increase was 2.6%.

Agricultural-equipment sales moved in the opposite direction, declining to 436 units in Q2-FY27 from 526 units a year earlier and 440 units in the immediately preceding quarter. That was a reduction of 90 units, or 17.1%, from Q2-FY26, and a reduction of four units, or 0.9%, from Q1-FY27.

What does the volume split show about ACE’s quarterly mix?

ACE’s disclosed non-agricultural equipment volume accounted for 2,812 of the combined 3,248 units across the two reported categories in Q2-FY27, compared with 2,348 of 2,874 units in Q2-FY26. The construction, crane and material-handling category therefore increased its share of disclosed volume as agricultural equipment fell from 526 units to 436 units.

The combined disclosed volume rose by 374 units, or 13.0%, year on year in Q2-FY27, but that aggregate increase reflects diverging category trends. The non-agricultural segment’s 464-unit increase more than offset the agricultural segment’s 90-unit decline; ACE’s presentation does not provide a separate explanation for the agricultural-equipment reduction.

Did the volume performance coincide with higher Q2-FY27 financial results?

Yes, ACE reported consolidated total income of Rs 932.2 crore in Q2-FY27, up 20.5% from Rs 773.6 crore in Q2-FY26 and 10.9% from Rs 840.3 crore in Q1-FY27. The company reported volume data by operating category, but did not disclose segment-wise revenue or state how much each category contributed to the quarterly income increase.

Normalized earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, or EBITDA, excluding exceptional items, reached Rs 180 crore in Q2-FY27, a 30.2% year-on-year increase from Rs 138.3 crore. The normalized EBITDA margin rose by 143 basis points to 19.31% from 17.88%, although it was 122 basis points below the 20.53% reported in Q1-FY27.

Profit after tax was Rs 164.3 crore in Q2-FY27, up 82.4% from Rs 90.1 crore a year earlier and 37.5% from Rs 119.5 crore in Q1-FY27. However, reported profit included a Rs 50 crore exceptional gain from a slump sale to ACE KATO Pvt. Ltd., whereas normalized EBITDA specifically excludes exceptional items.

What sector conditions does ACE cite for non-agricultural equipment demand?

ACE said H1-FY27 total income increased 20.0% year on year, driven by an uptick in the domestic capital-expenditure cycle. The presentation says continued public spending on roads, railways, urban infrastructure, manufacturing and logistics provides a foundation for long-term construction-equipment industry growth, although it does not quantify the direct effect of those factors on Q2-FY27 unit sales.

The presentation places those comments alongside FY27 budget capital expenditure of Rs 12.2 lakh crore, compared with Rs 11 lakh crore in FY26 revised estimates and Rs 7.4 lakh crore in FY23. It also notes that the Budget 2026-27 speech introduced a Scheme for Enhancement of Construction and Infrastructure Equipment, which the presentation says will help the industry move closer to self-reliance.

Logistics and port plans form part of the stated external backdrop for material-handling demand. The presentation says 100 multimodal cargo terminals are planned by FY27, with investment of about Rs 6,000 crore and capacity of more than 1 million tonnes of cargo per terminal, while the Sagarmala Programme has identified 839 projects worth about Rs 5.79 lakh crore for implementation by 2035.

Why is agricultural equipment the contrasting segment in ACE’s data?

Agricultural equipment was the only one of ACE’s two disclosed volume categories to decline in both comparisons, falling from 526 units in Q2-FY26 to 436 units in Q2-FY27 and from 440 units in Q1-FY27. The presentation provides market projections for agriculture but does not identify product availability, pricing, customer demand, seasonality or another specific reason for the quarter’s lower sales volume.

The longer-term market data cited by ACE remain separate from its reported quarterly result: the Indian agricultural tractor market is projected to grow from USD 7.92 billion in 2025 to USD 10.95 billion by 2030, a compound annual growth rate of 6.7%. The presentation also cites an expected Indian agricultural-machinery market of Rs 1.66 lakh crore by FY29, but those industry projections do not establish the reason for ACE’s 17.1% Q2-FY27 volume decline.

Conclusion

ACE’s Q2-FY27 operating data show a two-speed volume trend: cranes, construction equipment and material-handling equipment rose 19.8% to 2,812 units, while agricultural equipment declined 17.1% to 436 units. Consolidated total income increased 20.5% to Rs 932.2 crore and normalized EBITDA increased 30.2% to Rs 180 crore, but the presentation does not provide category-level revenue or profitability to connect the volume mix directly to financial outcomes.

The next disclosure to watch is whether the non-agricultural category sustains growth as the FY27 budget provides Rs 12.2 lakh crore of capital expenditure and the planned construction-equipment scheme develops. Agricultural-equipment sales of 436 units also remain an unresolved item because ACE disclosed the volume decline without a management explanation or a segment-specific recovery target.