PAGE INDUSTRIES LTD. RECOVER AFTER 13% FALL

PAGEIND Shares of Page Industries edged up 0.5 percent in Friday's early trade, recovering slightly after plunging 12.9 percent in the previous session following disappointing Q2 earnings. Despite the earnings miss, global brokerages HSBC and Nomura retained their Buy ratings on the stock, expressing optimism about a potential recovery in volume growth during the second half of FY27. The stock has declined 10.5 percent so far in 2026, significantly underperforming the Nifty 50, which has fallen around 4 percent during the same period. Page Industries' market capitalisation stood at approximately Rs 35,600 crore. Despite the weaker quarterly performance, the company has maintained its guidance of double-digit volume growth for FY27. HSBC noted that achieving this target would require volume growth of around 14 percent in the second half of the financial year. The brokerage marginally reduced its earnings per share estimates for FY27-FY29 by 1-3 percent and lowered its valuation multiple to 48 times earnings. For the September quarter, Page Industries reported a 3.8 percent year-on-year increase in consolidated net profit to Rs 202.5 crore, compared with the corresponding period last year. Revenue from operations grew 11.5 percent to Rs 1,439.6 crore. EBITDA increased 7.4 percent year-on-year. However, operating margins contracted by 80 basis points to 20.8 percent from 21.6 percent in the year-ago quarter. The company attributed the pressure on profitability to elevated cotton prices and higher crude oil-linked raw material costs. Nevertheless, it maintained that margins remained within its planned range. Investors will now closely monitor the company's ability to accelerate volume growth in the second half of FY27 and manage rising input costs.