IRCTC manages Indian Railways' online ticketing, catering, Rail Neer packaged water and tourism business, and heads into its Q2 FY 2026-2027 print with record festive booking volumes but a margin question hanging over the quarter. The key things the results will speak to are whether the group EBITDA margin recovers toward management's 30% aspiration from Q1's 28.17%, and how the company accounts for the GSTAT anti-profiteering order of Rs. 50,41,44,461 plus 18% interest.
| Results date | November 12, 2026 |
|---|---|
| Quarter | Q2 FY 2026-2027 |
| Previous quarter revenue | Rs. 1,369.53 Cr (+18.09% YoY) |
| Previous quarter PAT | Rs. 329.86 Cr (-0.18% YoY) |
| Previous quarter EBITDA margin | 28.17% |
| Market cap | Rs. 36,560 Cr |
| CMP | Rs. 457.0 |
IRCTC is scheduled to report its Q2 FY 2026-2027 financial results on November 12, 2026. The pre-call note does not carry a separate board-meeting intimation line for this quarter.
Separately from this quarter's results, IRCTC fixed September 22, 2026 as the record date for the Rs. 0.50/share final dividend for FY26, with payment on or before October 29, 2026. This formed part of the highest-ever FY26 total dividend of Rs. 9.00/share (Rs. 720 Cr; 51.67% payout).
The Q2 FY 2026-2027 print will test whether IRCTC's margin recovery holds: the group EBITDA margin printed 28.17% in Q1 against management's stated aspiration to "maintain 30%", with catering margin at 9.29% versus the guided 10-12% range.
Two cost forces pulled in opposite directions through the July-September quarter — Delhi 19-kg commercial cylinder prices fell a cumulative ~Rs. 375 from the June peak of Rs. 3,113.50 before a Rs. 9.50 September hike, while CPI food inflation accelerated to a 19-month high of 5.95% in August, concentrated in onion (+48.27%), ginger (+73.82%) and garlic (+43.60%) with no pass-through on the fixed Rs. 80 meal price.
Demand indicators ran positive: IRCTC logged an all-time-high 20,06,353 single-day bookings on September 7, 2026, and Indian Railways carried 67.27 crore passengers in August 2026 versus 64.43 crore a year earlier. The one-time Rs. 10 Cr HR cost and proof-of-concept costs (over Rs. 4 Cr on six trains) that dragged Q1 catering margin roll off through Q2, with four trains concluding in Q2 and two in Q3 per management.
The GSTAT final order dated October 14, 2026 — a deposit of Rs. 50,41,44,461 plus 18% interest w.e.f. 28.06.2019 with a 10% penalty if unpaid in 30 days — lands between quarter-end and the results date, and IRCTC is preferring an appeal. The call is also the first full results cycle after the CMD transition, with Shri Rahul Himalian holding additional charge and Shri Rajneesh Narain as Director (Finance)/CFO.
30% EBITDA margin aspiration vs the 28.17% Q1 print: Management has an open-ended guidance to maintain 30% group EBITDA margin.
Catering margin recovery toward 10-12%
Non-convenience fee and internet ticketing trajectory
GSTAT order, exchange fines and CC-60 litigation
Payment aggregator, Vande Bharat sleepers and Rail Neer capacity
An analyst noted internet ticketing revenue had not grown over eight quarters despite passenger and train growth; management pointed to convenience fee growth of 5-7% YoY with 4.89% QoQ growth in Q1 FY27, and higher fees of Rs. 15/Rs. 30 on UPI credit-card and credit-line transactions versus standard Rs. 10/Rs. 20. Management said fee enhancement is a policy decision they are advocating, and called it "an area of concern for us".
Management stated it is "aspiring to maintain 30%" EBITDA margin, an open-ended guidance reaffirmed at the Q4 FY26 results. FY26 margin was ~31.95% while Q1 FY27 printed at 28.17%.
Management quantified the drag: of Rs. 222 paid to the licensee, about Rs. 11 is GST with no input-tax-credit ability, leaving a combined license-fee-plus-GST earning of ~Rs. 105. Vande Bharat billing rose Rs. 70 Cr in Q3 FY26 with low relative license fee plus 5% GST, pressuring catering margin.
Management guided tourism revenue to exceed Rs. 1,000 Cr "next year" and 20% segment growth, against a Q1 FY27 base of Rs. 168 Cr (+13.5% YoY). FY26 tourism revenue was Rs. 890 Cr, up 19.46% YoY.
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