New Delhi, November 12 (IANS). Black Box Limited, Essar’s technology arm and leading digital infrastructure solutions company, has announced its financial results for the September quarter. The company has recorded strong performance in terms of revenue, operating profit and net profitability with significant quarter-on-quarter improvement.
With the company’s transformational programs now largely solidified along with a more focused go-to-market architecture, the company is moving decisively towards sustained revenue growth and a high-quality business mix in FY29.
The company is poised for growth with strong order wins, growing backlog, strong execution, deepening client relationships and a healthy pipeline. Furthermore, the company is confident that the better performance will continue in the second half of the current financial year also.
The company’s revenue in the second quarter of the current financial year was Rs 1,585 crore, which was Rs 1,387 crore in the first quarter of the current financial year. Revenue performance shows a growth of 14 percent on a quarterly basis and 6 percent on a yearly basis.
This strong revenue performance points to a sharp recovery as tariff conditions normalize and project execution delays resolve from the first quarter onwards. With this performance, the company’s business has returned to the expected run-rate as we head into the second half.
Supported by growing order book, improving pipeline visibility and strong execution pace across segments, the company’s Q2FY26 performance is expected to be even better than Q1.
EBITDA and EBITDA margin (percentage)
EBITDA for the September quarter was recorded at Rs 143 crore, which was Rs 116 crore in the first quarter of the current financial year. Regarding EBITDA, this performance shows a growth of 23 percent on a quarterly basis and 6 percent on a yearly basis. At the same time, an improvement of 60 basis points has been seen in the EBITDA margin, which increased from 8.4 percent in the first quarter of the current financial year to 9 percent in the second quarter.
This improvement has been seen due to higher-revenue throughput, better fixed-cost absorption, balanced business mix. At the same time, further incremental margin expansion remains expected with ongoing operational efficiency and cost optimization initiatives as the strategic priorities continue to be driven in the second half.
Profit After Tax (PAT)
The company’s profit after tax has increased from Rs 47 crore earlier to Rs 56 crore, which shows a growth of 17 percent on quarterly basis and 9 percent on annual basis. This performance on PAT reflects strong operating efficiencies and improving profitability in the core portfolio.
PAT growth is expected to outpace topline growth in the second half of the current financial year with revenue growth driven by significant contribution from margin normalisation, improving revenue quality and high-value opportunities.
Business and Operation Highlights
The order momentum remained strong with the order backlog at the end of Q2 of the current fiscal year standing at Rs 4,846 crore (US$ 555 million) as against the backlog of Rs 4,523 crore (US$ 518 million) at the end of the first quarter of the current fiscal. Order bookings remained strong in the quarter at Rs 1,906 crore (US$ 218 million), representing an increase of US$ 42 million from Rs 1,536 crore (US$ 176 million) in Q1FY26.
Notable orders during the quarter included significant extensions from the company’s existing large-value clients. Networking and connectivity with the company’s largest global financial services customers and engagement with hyperscale customers solidify Black Box’s position as a trusted partner in complex and high-value digital infrastructure programs.
The company received orders in digital workplace from a US-based local county and a large order from a healthcare institution. Additionally, Financial Services, Healthcare and Data Center continued to contribute higher revenues.
Apart from this expansion, the company also won some new clients from the education and municipal sectors in India, which reflects its increasing market expansion. It also shows the success of the company’s go-to-market strategy.
Partnership with Wind River
During the quarter Black Box entered into a strategic global partnership with Wind River to drive edge and cloud innovation. Wind River is recognized as a global leader in intelligent edge software.
Under this partnership, Black Box has got the rights to deliver Wind River solutions in India and the Middle East. Additionally, the company also entered into a separate agreement with Wind River to manage end-user customer engagements globally.
With this partnership, the company is expected to grow its revenue by Rs 1,350 crore (approximately US$30 million) in the next five years. Additionally, Black Box will be positioned stronger with advanced edge, cloud and AI-driven solutions.
Sanjeev Verma, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer, Black Box, said, “The second quarter of the current financial year was a strong quarter, registering a 14 per cent growth in revenues and broad-based growth across key markets. Our transformation journey is driving a sustained and profitable pace, supported by a strong and diversified order book. “The center and overall digital infrastructure are seeing strong growth. We remain confident about our FY26 objectives with solid execution, deep client partnerships and a healthy pipeline to capitalize on these opportunities.”
Deepak Bansal, Chief Financial Officer, Black Box, said, “We delivered revenue growth in the second quarter with healthy order backlog and EBITDA margin of 9 per cent. Our financial performance reflects the benefits of operational discipline and our continued transformation efforts. We are focused on growing the business with capital deployment.”
–IANS
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