Amber H1 loss followed a single Rs 132 crore exceptional item

Amber Enterprises India Ltd. reported a consolidated Rs 63 crore loss in H1FY27 after a Rs 132 crore exceptional item, while adjusted profit after tax was Rs 69 crore. Revenue from operations rose 28% year on year to Rs 6,515 crore and operating EBITDA increased 29% to Rs 464 crore, separating operating growth from reported earnings.

Why did Amber report a loss in H1FY27?

Amber reported a H1FY27 loss because a Rs 132 crore exceptional item turned Rs 90 crore of profit before tax and share of joint-venture results, before exceptional items, into a Rs 44 crore reported pre-tax loss. A Rs 2 crore share of loss from joint ventures also reduced the result. After a Rs 20 crore tax charge, PAT was a Rs 63 crore loss, compared with a Rs 74 crore profit in H1FY26.

Amber presented adjusted PAT of Rs 69 crore for H1FY27, compared with Rs 74 crore in H1FY26. The adjusted number adds back the Rs 132 crore exceptional item to reported PAT, subject to rounding in the presentation. The disclosed profit and loss statement identifies the amount as an exceptional item but does not provide its composition on the page.

Q2FY27 was also loss-making after the exceptional item. Amber reported a Rs 66 crore Q2FY27 PAT loss, compared with a Rs 32 crore loss in Q2FY26, and recorded a Rs 10 crore exceptional item in the quarter. Adjusted PAT was still a Rs 57 crore loss in Q2FY27, showing that excluding the item did not produce a quarterly profit.

Did Amber's operating performance improve in H1FY27?

Amber's operating performance improved in absolute terms in H1FY27: revenue rose 28% to Rs 6,515 crore and operating earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, or operating EBITDA, increased 29% to Rs 464 crore. Operating EBITDA margin remained 7.1% in both H1FY27 and H1FY26, meaning operating earnings growth broadly matched revenue growth.

Gross profit rose 39% to Rs 1,224 crore from Rs 879 crore, while gross margin increased to 18.8% from 17.3%. Raw-material consumption rose to Rs 5,291 crore from Rs 4,217 crore. Employee expenses excluding employee stock option plan, or ESOP, expenses increased to Rs 309 crore from Rs 179 crore, and other expenses excluding specified items increased to Rs 451 crore from Rs 340 crore.

The increase in operating EBITDA did not translate proportionately into earnings before interest and tax, or EBIT. Depreciation and amortisation rose to Rs 221 crore in H1FY27 from Rs 132 crore in H1FY26, an increase of Rs 89 crore. Consequently, EBIT increased only 3% to Rs 270 crore despite operating EBITDA increasing by Rs 103 crore.

How did Amber's EBITDA become a reported loss?

Amber's Rs 464 crore operating EBITDA in H1FY27 was reduced by Rs 221 crore of depreciation and amortisation and Rs 7 crore of ESOP expenses, while other income was Rs 34 crore, to reach EBIT of Rs 270 crore. Other income was unchanged from H1FY26, when it was also Rs 34 crore, and therefore did not offset the higher depreciation and amortisation charge.

Finance cost increased to Rs 180 crore in H1FY27 from Rs 140 crore in H1FY26. That reduced profit before tax, joint-venture results and exceptional items to Rs 90 crore from Rs 121 crore. The Rs 132 crore exceptional item and Rs 2 crore joint-venture loss then produced a Rs 44 crore pre-tax loss, before the Rs 20 crore tax charge resulted in the Rs 63 crore PAT loss.

Amber also disclosed a purchase price allocation, or PPA, inventory effect related to the Power-One, Unitronics and Shogini acquisitions. The H1FY27 effect was about Rs 28.8 crore, increasing raw-material consumption in the consolidated financial statements. The presentation states that raw-material consumption and operating EBITDA were adjusted for this inventory consumption, separately from the Rs 132 crore exceptional item.

What do Amber's balance sheet and cash flow show?

Amber's total assets increased to Rs 14,602 crore in Sep-26 from Rs 13,767 crore in Mar-26, while total equity rose to Rs 5,845 crore from Rs 5,802 crore. Non-current assets reached Rs 7,817 crore, including Rs 3,518 crore of property, plant and equipment, Rs 1,713 crore of goodwill and Rs 853 crore of other intangible assets.

Borrowings increased in both maturity categories at Sep-26. Current borrowings were Rs 3,162 crore, compared with Rs 1,445 crore in Mar-26, while non-current borrowings rose to Rs 1,126 crore from Rs 861 crore. Cash and cash equivalents declined to Rs 171 crore from Rs 231 crore; trade receivables fell to Rs 1,926 crore from Rs 2,246 crore, while inventories increased to Rs 2,621 crore from Rs 2,452 crore.

Cash flow from operations remained negative but improved year on year. Operating profit before working-capital changes rose to Rs 434 crore in H1FY27 from Rs 332 crore in H1FY26, but working-capital changes used Rs 895 crore. Net cash used in operating activities was Rs 533 crore, compared with Rs 772 crore in H1FY26; investing activities used Rs 1,316 crore and financing activities generated Rs 1,790 crore.

Conclusion

Amber's H1FY27 results show that higher operating profit did not prevent a reported loss. Revenue increased by Rs 1,419 crore to Rs 6,515 crore, operating EBITDA increased by Rs 103 crore to Rs 464 crore and gross margin rose 1.5 percentage points to 18.8%. Higher depreciation and amortisation, Rs 180 crore of finance cost, the Rs 132 crore exceptional item and a Rs 2 crore joint-venture loss led to a Rs 63 crore reported PAT loss.

The disclosed forward marker is management's outlook for the Railways Sub-systems & Defence Division. Management expects FY27 revenue growth of about 15% to 20%, with project delays affecting the outlook, and expects margins to rebound to normalised levels in FY28 once old projects are delivered. The division's H1FY27 revenue was Rs 297 crore and operating EBITDA margin was 8.0%, versus revenue of Rs 255 crore and margin of 17.0% in H1FY26.