Coreintegra profit did not translate into operating cash

Coreintegra Consulting Services Limited reported Rs 4.51 crore profit for the year ended March 31, 2026, but its restated cash-flow statement recorded a Rs 3.05 crore operating-cash outflow in its first column. Rs 8.09 crore of income tax paid, net of refunds, exceeded Rs 5.03 crore of cash generated from operations before tax.

Why did Coreintegra profit not translate into operating cash?

Coreintegra recorded negative operating cash flow because its Rs 8.09 crore tax payment was greater than the Rs 5.03 crore cash generated from operating activities before tax. The restated profit-and-loss statement reports profit before tax of Rs 4.70 crore for the year ended March 31, 2026, while the cash-flow statement starts its indirect-method calculation with the same Rs 4.70 crore amount.

The indirect method under Accounting Standard 3, or AS 3, starts with profit before tax and adjusts it for non-cash items, investment income and working-capital movements. Coreintegra added Rs 1.75 crore of depreciation and amortisation, then made other adjustments including deducting Rs 66.63 lakh of interest income, to arrive at operating profit before working-capital changes of Rs 5.85 crore.

Working capital means operating assets and liabilities such as trade receivables, advances, payables and provisions. After those movements, Coreintegra generated Rs 5.03 crore from operating activities, but income tax paid net of refunds was Rs 8.09 crore. The resulting net cash used in operating activities was Rs 3.05 crore, showing that the reported Rs 4.51 crore annual profit was not converted into operating cash in the disclosed period.

How did Coreintegra operating cash flow change from the comparative year?

Coreintegra operating cash flow moved from a Rs 1.39 crore inflow in the March 31, 2025 cash-flow column to a Rs 3.05 crore outflow in the first cash-flow column, a Rs 4.44 crore reversal. Cash generated from operating activities before tax increased to Rs 5.03 crore from Rs 2.07 crore, but tax paid rose to Rs 8.09 crore from Rs 68.36 lakh.

The comparative figures show that the cash-flow reversal did not arise from lower pre-tax cash generation. Instead, income tax paid was Rs 7.40 crore higher than in the March 31, 2025 column. Positive operating cash flow in a later period would depend on the relationship between operating cash generated before tax and cash taxes paid, although the supplied financial statements do not explain the reason for the higher tax payment.

The restated cash-flow statement labels its first column March 31, 2024, although its Rs 4.70 crore profit-before-tax figure matches the March 31, 2026 profit-and-loss statement. The statement also labels its third column March 31, 2023, while the profit-and-loss statement presents March 31, 2024 as its oldest period. The disclosed documents therefore contain an apparent date-label inconsistency in the cash-flow statement.

Which working-capital movements affected Coreintegra cash generation?

Coreintegra’s largest working-capital cash use was a Rs 4.41 crore increase in trade receivables, which represents amounts due from customers that had not been collected in cash. Trade receivables in the March 31, 2026 balance sheet were Rs 27.42 crore, compared with Rs 23.01 crore at March 31, 2025.

Short-term loans and advances used Rs 2.05 crore of cash, and other current assets used Rs 1.65 crore in the first cash-flow column. At March 31, 2026, short-term loans and advances were Rs 3.81 crore, up from Rs 1.75 crore a year earlier, while other current assets rose to Rs 1.68 crore from Rs 39.57 lakh.

Liability movements partly offset these asset-related uses of cash. Other current liabilities increased by Rs 3.71 crore, long-term provisions increased by Rs 1.38 crore and trade payables increased by Rs 2.15 crore in the first cash-flow column. These movements helped produce Rs 5.03 crore of cash generated from operations before tax, but they did not offset the Rs 8.09 crore tax payment.

Did Coreintegra earnings rise while operating cash flow fell?

Coreintegra’s reported earnings increased in fiscal 2026 even though the first cash-flow column showed an operating outflow. Revenue from operations rose to Rs 515.15 crore in the year ended March 31, 2026 from Rs 402.61 crore in fiscal 2025, while profit for the year increased to Rs 4.51 crore from Rs 3.46 crore.

Fiscal 2026 profit before tax of Rs 4.70 crore was higher than Rs 4.16 crore in fiscal 2025 but below Rs 5.98 crore in fiscal 2024. Profit for the year similarly exceeded fiscal 2025 but remained below the Rs 4.94 crore reported for fiscal 2024. The difference between profit and operating cash reflects the AS 3 mechanism, which separately captures non-cash charges, changes in operating balances and cash taxes.

Coreintegra’s current-tax expense in the fiscal 2026 profit-and-loss statement was Rs 28.22 lakh, while cash tax paid in the cash-flow statement was Rs 8.09 crore. These measures have different definitions: tax expense is recognised in profit calculation, whereas tax paid records cash outflow net of refunds. The supplied statements do not provide a reconciliation explaining the difference between the two figures.

What do Coreintegra balance-sheet and investment figures show?

Coreintegra reported Rs 11.08 crore of cash and bank balances at March 31, 2026, down from Rs 20.34 crore at March 31, 2025. The balance sheet also showed total current assets of Rs 43.99 crore at March 31, 2026, compared with Rs 45.50 crore a year earlier, even as trade receivables and advances increased.

The first cash-flow column records Rs 5.07 crore spent on purchases of tangible and intangible assets and capital advances. Intangible assets increased to Rs 7.70 crore at March 31, 2026 from Rs 6.49 crore at March 31, 2025, while intangible assets under development rose to Rs 1.45 crore from Rs 2.33 lakh. These payments are classified as investing cash flows rather than operating cash flows.

Investing activities generated a Rs 3.69 crore net inflow in the first cash-flow column because maturity or placement of fixed deposits provided Rs 8.09 crore. The fixed-deposit movement exceeded the Rs 5.07 crore asset-purchase outflow, while financing activities used Rs 66.63 lakh, reported as interest paid on overdraft and other borrowings. Coreintegra reported no short-term borrowings on its March 31, 2026 balance sheet.

Conclusion

Coreintegra’s disclosed financial information shows that rising revenue and a Rs 4.51 crore annual profit did not produce positive operating cash flow. The Rs 3.05 crore operating outflow followed Rs 8.09 crore of income tax paid, which exceeded Rs 5.03 crore of cash generated from operations before tax, alongside cash uses in receivables, advances and other current assets.

The next disclosed items to watch are the collection of Rs 27.42 crore of trade receivables, movements in Rs 3.81 crore of short-term loans and advances, and the timing of an Rs 82.10 lakh capital commitment for comprehensive labour workforce management software. Readers should also watch for a later clarification of the cash-flow statement’s date labels and of the tax-payment difference, neither of which is explained in the supplied statements.