BCCL profit turnaround lifts shares; sustaining margins remains key

New Delhi: Bharat Coking Coal Ltd’s (BCCL) return to profitability sparked buying in its shares on Monday, as stronger sales realisations and higher coal offtake improved its September-quarter performance.

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The Coal India subsidiary’s stock rose more than 6 percent during the session before closing on the NSE at Rs 31.02, up 4.23 percent. The retreat from its intraday levels tempered the rally, although the stock retained a substantial gain.

Higher realisations drive turnaround

BCCL reported a net profit of Rs 123.7 crore for Q2 FY27, against a loss of Rs 53 crore a year earlier. Revenue increased 39 percent to Rs 4,412.58 crore from Rs 3,173.25 crore.

Coal offtake rose about 10 percent to 8.89 million tonnes from 8.11 million tonnes. Sales realisation per tonne increased 23 percent to Rs 3,668 from Rs 2,973, indicating that better pricing played a larger role than volume growth in the revenue recovery.

EBITDA turned positive at Rs 200 crore, compared with a loss of Rs 383 crore. The EBITDA margin improved to 4.5 percent from a negative 12.1 percent.

Operating recovery supports sentiment

The turnaround came despite other income falling 66 percent to Rs 158.6 crore and finance costs rising 44 percent to Rs 48.74 crore.

That combination points to an improvement in operating performance rather than a recovery driven by higher non-operating income. However, a 4.5 percent EBITDA margin still leaves earnings sensitive to changes in costs and sales realisations.

Receivables declined to Rs 2,105 crore at September-end from Rs 2,863 crore in March—a reduction of Rs 758 crore, or about 26.5 percent. The decline is a positive signal for working-capital management, although cash-flow figures would be needed to assess its full impact.

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Stock still below debut level

At Monday’s NSE close, BCCL remained about 31.1 percent below its listing price of Rs 45, while trading approximately 34.9 percent above its issue price of Rs 23.

The results provide a stronger operating basis for the share-price recovery. A sustained improvement, however, will depend on whether BCCL can maintain realisations, expand margins and translate lower receivables into stronger cash flows over subsequent quarters.

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