Choice International Q2 FY27 Earnings Call: Record Revenue Rises 33% YoY, 1:1 Bonus Issue Announced (CHOICEIN)

Choice International Ltd held its Q2 FY27 earnings call on November 02, 2026. Here's a quick read of what management said — performance, strategy, and the outlook ahead.

Strongest Quarter in Company History

• Record revenue of Rs.379 crore — Q2 FY 2026-2027 (quarter ended September 30, 2026) was the strongest quarter in Choice's history, up 33% YoY from Rs.284 crore in Q2 FY 2025-2026.
• EBITDA of ~Rs.131 crore (+32% YoY) — at a 34.5% margin; PAT of ~Rs.70 crore (+23% YoY) at an 18.3% margin.
• 1:1 bonus issue announced — for shareholders alongside the record results.
• Rs.900 crore NH Investment & Securities investment completed — the South Korean investor's strategic investment into Choice Equity Broking closed in late October 2026; management states it strengthens capacity to expand the MTF book and opens opportunities across institutional broking, wealth, investment banking and asset management.
• Reach of 17.5 lakh customers — broking and distribution serves customers through 200+ branches and a network of 70,000+ business associates.

Demat Growth, Flat Activation, MTF Priority

• Broking & distribution revenue of Rs.178 crore — ~52% of Q2 FY 2026-2027 revenue, with PBT of ~Rs.42 crore; added ~1.73 lakh demat accounts in the quarter, taking the total to 13.78 lakh (+14% YoY) across 218 branches, with client assets under custody at Rs.66,300 crore.
• ADTO declined 12% in Q2 FY 2026-2027 — across all segments, broadly in line with market trends; active accounts stayed flat with roughly 1 in 6 clients active (analyst observation).
• CFO attributed flat activation to NSE's active UCC framework — clients count as active only within a 12-month tenure; management said it is "at the right level of activation currently" and gave no specific active-to-demat ratio target.
• MTF book at Rs.463 crore — remains a key growth priority, with funds from NH Investment Securities intended primarily to support it; industry MTF book moderated from ~Rs.1.6 lakh crore to ~Rs.1.5 lakh crore, which management does not view as a sign of systemic risk, noting the book is spread across 2,200+ stocks.
• StrikeX launched for sophisticated retail F&O traders — features include order flow analysis and volume bubbles; order flow analysis is currently offered by only two other brokers in India. Promoting StrikeX usage is a stated H2 FY 2026-2027 priority, with a couple of additional digital products under development for H2 FY 2026-2027 launch.
• CBA payouts range 15% to 40% — depending on product sold (current structure as of Q2 FY 2026-2027); CBAs function as branch extensions and are non-fixed-cost originators; management said it is difficult to segregate CBA vs. branch revenue.

IPO Uplift, Order Book, NCLT Pending

• Advisory revenue of Rs.145 crore in Q2 FY 2026-2027 — ~36% of revenue with PBT of Rs.45 crore, versus a normal quarterly contribution of ~Rs.100 crore; CFO Ayush Sharma attributed the uplift to 5 IPOs with subscriptions during Q2 FY 2026-2027, with the government consultancy component of the ~Rs.100 crore base intact.
• Government advisory order book at Rs.710 crore — closing order book as of Q2 FY 2026-2027; focus on timely execution, quality delivery and disciplined collections.
• Feedback Infra acquisition nearing completion — letter of intent received from the resolution professional confirming committee of creditors' approval; management expects Feedback Infra to become part of Choice in the next quarter or so (≈ Q3 FY 2026-2027), subject to NCLT approval and other applicable requirements.
• Feedback Infra carries ~Rs.300 crore+ order book — with FY 2025-2026 turnover of ~Rs.70 crore; ~Rs.200 crore+ of order book will add post-acquisition (period unspecified), as Feedback Infra has not bid for new projects in the last couple of years due to negative net worth.
• Management expects margins to improve post-acquisition — citing credential-based entry barriers in larger projects; target sectors are railways, metro and large infrastructure projects, with management believing Choice will have the largest credential in government advisory and development advisory post-acquisition.
• FY30 advisory mix expectation of almost 50-50% — CFO clarified advisory comprises both government advisory and investment banking; for FY30 management is expecting almost 50-50% contribution from government advisory and investment banking to overall advisory revenues, with a stated focus on bringing tier-2 city "hidden gems" to the capital markets.

Distribution 3x, Regulatory Watch Items

• Wealth AUM of ~Rs.6,000 crore — as of Q2 FY 2026-2027: mutual funds ~Rs.4,100 crore, PMS & AIF ~Rs.291 crore; equity AUM +49% YoY to ~Rs.3,000 crore; PMS & AIF AUM +127% YoY from Rs.128 crore.
• Structured & fixed income distribution of Rs.1,636 crore in H1 FY 2026-2027 — vs Rs.512 crore in H1 FY 2025-2026, already surpassing full-year FY 2025-2026 volumes of Rs.745 crore.
• Wealth blended yields of 1.2–1.5% — on distribution-focused products and 60–75 bps on trail-income products (mutual funds, PMS) as of Q2 FY 2026-2027; management does not foresee major impact on commissions in the near future, citing that investing remains relationship-focused, and believes the regulator will keep human capital involved in onboarding and servicing in mind while designing expense-ratio policies.
• Insurance distribution generated Rs.81 crore premium across 75,000+ policies — in Q2 FY 2026-2027; management remains watchful of proposed regulatory changes to commissions/distribution expenses, which could affect intermediary revenue and margins depending on the final framework and product mix.
• NBFC revenue of Rs.46 crore (PBT Rs.4 crore) — ~12% of Q2 FY 2026-2027 revenue; total loan book at Rs.935 crore; the micro-lending product has been impacted by industry-wide microfinance turbulences over the last couple of quarters (through Q2 FY 2026-2027), slightly impacting margins; management noted the microfinance industry is showing a revival and expects that improvement to flow into the micro-lending portfolio going forward.
• India Post Payments Bank pilot onboarded 25,000+ customers — generating AUM of ~Rs.1.12 crore over ~38 days in selected cities; management says it is too early to assess revenue contribution.
• AMC: first active scheme NFO closed on the call date — Choice Large & Mid-cap Fund NFO closed November 2, 2026, with initial response described as encouraging; growing the AMC's active products presence is a stated H2 FY 2026-2027 priority.

Rs.900 Cr Deployment and IPO Pipeline

• 5 IPOs aggregating ~Rs.680 crore in Q2 FY 2026-2027 — across mainboard and SME platforms, with one offer subscribed ~177x; execution momentum continued into October 2026 (Q3 FY 2026-2027).
• IPO fees generally range 3% to 8–9% of issue size — per CFO Ayush Sharma, fees are company-specific, varying by sector and company size, and cannot be generalized into a single benchmark; no mainboard vs SME split disclosed.
• Pipeline of 24 IPO mandates with estimated fundraising of Rs.6,210 crore — (period unspecified); management expects at least 4–5 more IPOs to hit the market in H2 FY 2026-2027, dependent on regulatory approval timelines; the company has not disclosed how many mandates are filed or have received SEBI observations, and declined to give an H2 investment banking revenue figure.
• Majority of the Rs.900 crore to go into MTF funding — money put to use after October 27, 2026 (about a week before the call), with management confident it will be fully deployed within Q3 FY 2026-2027; the fundraise has mixed, unsegregated end uses across MTF, settlement funding, capital expenditure and working capital, with no category-wise allocation.
• Analyst Raghav's math (not company guidance) — Rs.900 crore at an assumed 18-20% interest rate for 2 months implies ~Rs.28 crore of incremental revenue; layering this on an expected 60-70 crore bottom-line run-rate, he asked whether Q3 FY 2026-2027 bottom line could exceed Rs.100 crore; the CFO responded only qualitatively that as the MTF portfolio grows, the corresponding revenue "will certainly be added" to the overall P&L, with no specific PAT guidance given; a follow-up on expected MTF book size by December-end (Q3 FY 2026-2027) went unanswered.
• CCPS conversion terms undecided — the conversion ratio for the CCPS issued to NH will be decided in the future based on certain conditions, so the stake NH would receive on full conversion cannot be stated currently; conversion timeline is after 3 years (~FY 2029-2030).
• Management expects close to around 20% ROE — and expects to maintain that level (period unspecified).

Tier 3+ Strategy, H2 Priorities, Macro Watch

• Tier 3+ strategy targets "Bharat" growth — CEO Arun Poddar said major metropolitan cities are already over-penetrated and tier 3 markets are viewed as "tomorrow's major wealth creation centers"; the strategy rests on untapped tier 3/4 and gram panchayat-level markets, a distribution-led physical model cited as a key differentiator vs peers, and higher lifetime customer value in the physical segment vs digital players.
• 30-40% customer growth to be maintained in tier 3+ geographies — CFO Ayush Sharma said the overall customer base has been growing at approximately 30-40% and management will continue to maintain 30-40% customer growth in these geographies (period unspecified); MTF-active customers are expected to add close to around another 10% to the overall growth rate (period unspecified).
• H2 FY 2026-2027 priorities — expand the MTF portfolio using capital already raised, accelerate NCD and fixed income distribution, acquire more higher-margin advisory projects leveraging Feedback Infra credentials, and grow AMC active products presence.
• Macro backdrop cited by management — the Finance Ministry projects 7.3% real GDP growth for FY27; the central government budgeted ~Rs.12 lakh crore capex for FY27 with ~Rs.6.5 lakh crore spent in H1 FY27; ~Rs.2.4 lakh crore of infrastructure project costs sanctioned by banks/financial institutions, led by power, roads and bridges.
• Capital markets context — FIIs were net sellers for 16 consecutive months with the Sensex down ~11%; September 2026 SIP inflows at Rs.32,490 crore; ~1.6 crore demat accounts added in H1 FY27; mainboard IPOs mobilized ~Rs.1.4 lakh crore in FY27 through October; Jio Platforms' Rs.30,213 crore issue was the largest IPO in Indian history.
• RBI's October 2026 repo rate increase from 5.25% to 5.50% — could raise funding costs, reinforcing management's emphasis on protecting lending spreads and monitoring collections; RBI's August 2026 data showed ~16% YoY credit growth.
• Closing priorities without numeric targets — CEO Arun Poddar said the priority is to build on Q2 FY 2026-2027 performance by putting NH Capital to work, opening customer relationships and strengthening execution; management committed to a disciplined growth approach supported by prudent capital allocation and risk management, with no specific timeline or numeric targets attached to these initiatives.