NBCC cash equivalents fall Rs 1,411.51 crore in six months

NBCC (India) Limited reported a Rs 1,411.51 crore decline in consolidated cash and cash equivalents during the six months ended September 30, 2026, closing at Rs 2,075.89 crore despite profit before tax rising to Rs 494.80 crore from Rs 386.07 crore a year earlier. Reductions in trade payables and other current liabilities accounted for the largest cash outflows.

Why did NBCC's cash equivalents fall despite higher profit?

NBCC's cash equivalents fell because working-capital outflows, investing payments and financing payments exceeded the cash contribution from profit. Net cash used in operating activities was Rs 955.21 crore in the six months ended September 30, 2026, while investing activities used Rs 278.39 crore and financing activities used Rs 177.92 crore.

Profit before tax increased by Rs 108.73 crore year on year to Rs 494.80 crore, and operating profit before working-capital changes rose to Rs 308.55 crore from Rs 20.34 crore. The consolidated cash-flow statement uses the indirect method under Indian Accounting Standard 7, or Ind AS 7, which adjusts reported profit for non-cash entries, income recorded elsewhere in cash flow and changes in operating balances.

Cash used in operations nevertheless improved from Rs 1,097.63 crore in the six months ended September 30, 2025 to Rs 955.21 crore in the latest period. That improvement shows a narrower operating cash outflow, but it did not prevent the overall decline because the group also recorded negative investing and financing cash flows.

Which working-capital movements used the most cash at NBCC?

The largest working-capital uses were a Rs 550.03 crore decrease in trade payables and a Rs 566.48 crore decrease in other current liabilities. Together, these liability movements used Rs 1,116.50 crore during the six-month period, exceeding the Rs 308.55 crore operating profit before working-capital changes.

Trade receivables and retention balances absorbed Rs 187.49 crore, while other assets used Rs 140.45 crore and current tax assets or liabilities used Rs 28.93 crore. These uses were partly offset by a Rs 65.02 crore reduction in other financial assets, a Rs 19.04 crore inventory reduction and a Rs 163.53 crore increase in other non-current liabilities.

The year-on-year comparison shows that cash absorbed by trade receivables and retention clients fell sharply from Rs 959.05 crore to Rs 187.49 crore. However, the trade-payables outflow expanded from Rs 26.39 crore to Rs 550.03 crore, while the outflow from other current liabilities rose from Rs 105.22 crore to Rs 566.48 crore.

How did NBCC's balance-sheet liabilities change?

NBCC's balance sheet recorded lower closing balances for the two liabilities that drove the principal working-capital cash outflows. Trade payables to creditors other than micro and small enterprises fell to Rs 5,747.34 crore at September 30, 2026 from Rs 6,350.83 crore at March 31, 2026, while other current liabilities declined to Rs 3,810.81 crore from Rs 4,413.82 crore.

Other financial liabilities increased to Rs 1,895.55 crore from Rs 1,751.94 crore over the same six months. The cash-flow statement recorded a Rs 32.53 crore increase in current other financial liabilities, whereas the balance-sheet movement includes balances that may also reflect classifications and non-cash changes disclosed through the financial statements.

Inventories declined to Rs 1,175.07 crore at September 30, 2026 from Rs 1,194.12 crore at March 31, 2026, consistent with the Rs 19.04 crore operating cash inflow shown in the cash-flow statement. Trade receivables stood at Rs 5,211.96 crore, compared with Rs 5,091.81 crore in investments reported at March 31, 2026 under the current-assets presentation, with the filing's extracted table presenting these financial-asset lines separately.

How did investing and financing activities affect NBCC's cash?

NBCC used Rs 278.39 crore in investing activities in the six months ended September 30, 2026, compared with an inflow of Rs 223.82 crore in the corresponding 2025 period. A Rs 122.61 crore capital advance for purchase of property, a Rs 227.93 crore net increase in bank deposits maturing between more than three and up to 12 months, and Rs 13.79 crore of capital expenditure were major outflows.

Interest received net of tax deducted at source added Rs 74.24 crore, while deposits with original maturity above 12 months generated a Rs 33.52 crore inflow. NBCC also recorded a Rs 24.46 crore outflow in deposits originally maturing above 12 months but having a remaining maturity of up to 12 months from the reporting date.

Financing activities used Rs 177.92 crore, compared with Rs 109.95 crore a year earlier. The group paid Rs 52.92 crore in equity dividends and transferred Rs 124.85 crore to a separate dividend account; payments for lease-liability interest and principal totalled Rs 0.15 crore.

How much of NBCC's cash was restricted at September 2026?

NBCC reported Rs 2,075.89 crore of cash and cash equivalents at September 30, 2026, of which Rs 1,908.94 crore was held in separate bank accounts on behalf of ministries or clients. The filing identifies this amount as restricted cash and cash equivalents, compared with Rs 2,639.55 crore at March 31, 2026 and Rs 1,795.11 crore at September 30, 2025.

Closing cash and cash equivalents fell from Rs 3,487.40 crore at the start of the six-month period to Rs 2,075.89 crore at its end. The September 2026 cash-equivalent total consisted of balances, bank deposits or call deposits with banks, while the September 2025 comparative also included Rs 0.40 crore of remittances in transit or cheques in hand.

NBCC separately reported Rs 3,420.52 crore of other bank balances at September 30, 2026, up from Rs 3,028.33 crore at March 31, 2026. Those balances are presented separately from cash and cash equivalents in the consolidated assets and liabilities statement.

What do NBCC's operating segments show alongside the cash outflow?

NBCC's revenue from operations increased to Rs 5,655.30 crore in the six months ended September 30, 2026 from Rs 5,306.42 crore a year earlier. Project Management Consultancy, or PMC, remained the largest segment with Rs 5,451.46 crore of revenue, up from Rs 5,105.47 crore, while real-estate revenue rose to Rs 75.68 crore from Rs 30.78 crore.

Engineering, Procurement and Construction, or EPC, revenue declined to Rs 105.40 crore from Rs 165.70 crore. PMC profit before tax and interest increased to Rs 464.19 crore from Rs 329.53 crore, real-estate segment profit rose to Rs 41.97 crore from Rs 9.28 crore, and EPC recorded a Rs 1.08 crore segment loss against a Rs 9.51 crore profit a year earlier.

The segment results show that higher PMC and real-estate earnings supported the rise in consolidated profit before tax. The cash-flow statement, however, shows that the period's cash movement was chiefly affected by the settlement or reduction of current liability balances and by investing and financing payments.

Conclusion

NBCC's Rs 1,411.51 crore cash-equivalent decline occurred even as profit before tax increased by Rs 108.73 crore, demonstrating the effect of working-capital movements on cash conversion. The Rs 1,116.50 crore combined cash use from lower trade payables and other current liabilities was the largest identified factor, although operating cash outflow narrowed from Rs 1,097.63 crore a year earlier to Rs 955.21 crore.

The next disclosed matters to watch are the proposed merger of wholly owned subsidiary HSCC (India) Limited with NBCC and the completion of HSCC balance confirmations and reconciliations. NBCC's board approved the merger scheme on July 14, 2026, and the proposal remains subject to approval or sanction by the competent authority and applicable governmental, statutory and regulatory approvals, directions and filings; HSCC management expects significant reconciliations to be completed by year-end.