/** blogpostTitle: PTC India FY26: Higher volumes, normalised profits, and a market shifting short term blogpostSlug: ptc-fy26 blogpostShortTitle: PTC India FY26 volumes rise, profits normalise blogpostCoverImageDescription: Ultra-realistic corporate dashboard on a desk showing power trading analytics: a large line chart rising from 82.8 to 92.8 billion units across two fiscal years, a stacked bar chart splitting volumes into LT+MT, Exchange and Bilateral for FY25 and FY26, and small KPI tiles for trading margin and PAT. Neutral office lighting, clean financial aesthetic, no logos or text labels. */

PTC India FY26: Higher volumes, normalised profits, and a market shifting short term

PTC India closed FY2025-26 with a familiar pattern for power trading businesses: strong operational throughput, stable core earnings, and headline profit comparisons distorted by a prior-year one-off.

For the full year, total electricity trading volume increased 12% to 92.80 billion units. The company also reported standalone PAT of INR 397.04 crore. In FY2024-25, PAT was materially higher because it included INR 457.39 crore from divestment of PTC Energy Limited (PEL). Management repeatedly asked investors to avoid reading the business purely quarter-to-quarter, given the seasonality and the nature of trading.

In Q4, volumes rose 24% year-on-year to 23,572 million units. The company’s trading margin improved, and total operational income moved in the same direction, reflecting stronger activity through short-term market instruments.

Volumes drove the year, and exchanges grew faster

The most important operational story in FY2025-26 was the continued migration of market activity toward short-term products. PTC highlighted that exchange-traded (short-term) volumes contributed 56% of total trading volume during the year. The shift matters because it changes how relationships, pricing power, and competition play out across the value chain.

The volume mix shows this clearly. Exchange volumes rose from 42,843 million units in FY2024-25 to 52,224 million units in FY2025-26. Long-term plus medium-term volumes also increased, but at a slower pace, while bilateral short-term volumes declined.

Management’s explanation was straightforward: counterparties are increasingly reluctant to enter into very long-tenor contracts, and more transactions are therefore being executed on medium-term to short-term horizons. The company noted it has historically tried to maintain a roughly balanced mix, but market structure and customer preferences are pushing activity toward shorter duration trades.

Financial performance: stable core, but optics skewed by a one-off

On the standalone business, Q4 trading margin increased from 60.20 crore to 76.23 crore, and Q4 total operational income rose from 97.11 crore to 115.83 crore. For the full year, trading margin increased 11% to 310.52 crore, while total operational income remained broadly flat at around 450 crore.

The CFO attributed the flat operational income for the year to lower rebate and surcharge income, despite higher trading margin. Management indicated DISCOM liquidity and payment timeliness improved, reducing rebate and surcharge earnings for PTC.

Headline PAT comparisons require careful reading. FY2024-25 included a large gain from PEL divestment, which management quantified at INR 457.39 crore at the PAT level (and INR 521.38 crore at the Q4 PAT level). FY2025-26 is a cleaner representation of operating performance without that exceptional item.

Financial summary (Standalone)

Note: FY24-25 PAT included INR 457.39 crore from divestment of PEL.

Balance sheet and working capital: recovery gains show up in days

A practical insight from the analyst meet was the company’s focus on receivables and liquidity management, which is central to any trading franchise.

Management shared that overall debtors (including exchange receivables) were around INR 4,380 crore as of March 2026, down from INR 4,762 crore in the previous year. Creditors increased to around INR 3,500 crore from INR 2,900 crore. The company highlighted a significant recovery from Jammu and Kashmir of around INR 1,000 crore during the year.

This flowed through to working capital days. Gross debtor days improved from 51 to 44, and net working capital days reduced from 19 to 8. For a business where counterparty discipline can swing sharply across cycles, this improvement is meaningful even if it is not always linear year to year.

The management also shared an indicative net cash number, citing around INR 2,800 crore as of 31 March and around INR 2,400 crore at the time of the meet.

Strategy: renewables, storage, cross-border, and consulting

PTC positioned itself as a beneficiary of India’s ongoing energy transition and the increasing importance of market-based balancing across the day. Management pointed to a system reality that investors have also been observing: tariffs can be near zero at some hours and very high at others. The company’s core role, as stated in the meet, is to match these mismatches.

Within its long-term and medium-term portfolio, PTC stated it has more than 7,500 MW of operating LT and MT contracts. The company disclosed that hydro-based projects account for 46% of total PPA and renewables including hydro are 58% of the operating PPA portfolio.

PTC also highlighted activity in related markets and services:

• Renewable Energy Certificates: 68.30 lakh RECs traded in FY2025-26 through exchange and bilateral mechanisms.
• Cross-border trade: geographies explicitly mentioned included Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh.
• Consulting: assignments in smart meters, PM-KUSUM, renewable project management, and project management consultancy for substations and transmission links.

On forward initiatives, the company disclosed a Strategic Joint Venture Agreement with NLC India Renewables Limited signed on 12 December 2025 to jointly develop up to 2,000 MW of renewable projects in phases across solar, wind, hydro and battery energy storage systems. In the Q&A, management clarified that approvals are awaited and did not provide a committed timeline or capital outlay.

Management also spoke about early participation in new demand and supply constructs. It stated it is trading BESS power and supplied green power to a green hydrogen project at GAIL Vijaipur, described as a 10 MW project. It also mentioned being in discussions with data centers that require round-the-clock green power.

What management said about competition and margins

Competition remains a key structural factor. Management said there are more than 70 licensed power traders in India. In exchange-based and plain short-term transactions, PTC competes with the full field, while in long-term and cross-border segments, the competitive set is smaller.

The company was clear that margin expansion is difficult in the current environment and that growth over the next few years is more likely to be volume-led. It also stated it expects national electricity demand growth of around 5% year-on-year, and it expects to be broadly in line with the country growth, potentially slightly higher.

Capital allocation and PFS divestment update

A recurring investor question was about monetisation and use of cash. Management reiterated that cash is required for the trading business across cycles, while also being held as a reserve for selective strategic investments that add value to the core business. It did not indicate any intent to rebuild an asset-heavy platform like PEL.

On PTC Financial Services (PFS), management disclosed that the earlier board decision to pause the divestment process is no longer in place, which means the company can proceed. However, it did not commit to a timeline, structure, or appointment of advisors in the forum, stating that material developments would be disclosed as required.

Takeaways for investors

FY2025-26 reinforced three signals. First, PTC is gaining operating momentum through higher traded volumes, with exchanges growing faster than other channels. Second, profits need to be read in a normalised lens because FY2024-25 contained a material one-off from the PEL divestment. Third, the market is moving toward shorter duration contracts, and management is positioning the company to grow primarily through volumes while defending margins in a highly competitive landscape.

The next set of investor watchpoints are likely to be the pace of volume growth relative to the sector, the sustainability of working capital discipline across cycles, and the evolution of strategic initiatives like the NLC renewables joint venture and new-age demand segments such as storage-backed and round-the-clock green supply.