Transcript of Earnings call - Q1 FY27

QCL/SEC/2026-27/49 August 03, 2026 BSE Limited National Stock Exchange of India Limited Phiroze Jeejeebhoy Towers, Exchange Plaza, Dalal Street, Bandra- Kurla Complex, Mumbai – 400 001 Bandra (East), Mumbai – 400 051 Security Code – 539978 NSE Symbol – QUESS Dear Sir/ Madam, Sub: Transcript of Earnings Call – Q1 FY27 Pursuant to Regulation 30 of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015, please find enclosed herewith the Transcript of the Earnings Call held on July 30, 2026. The above information is also available on the website of the Company at www.quesscorp.com Kindly take the same on record and acknowledge. Yours sincerely, For Quess Corp Limited Kundan K Lal Company Secretary & Compliance Officer Membership No.: F8393 Encl: as above Quess Corp Limited Quess Tower, Sky Walk Avenue, 32/4, Hosur Road, Roopena Agrahara, Bommanahalli, Bengaluru– 560068, Karnataka, India Tel: +91 080-49345666 I contactus@quesscorp.com I CIN L74140KA2007PLC043909 www.quesscorp.com “Quess Corp Limited Q1 FY'27 Earnings Conference Call” July 30, 2026 MANAGEMENT: MR. LOHIT BHATIA – EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR & GROUP CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER MR. NEERAJ JAIN – CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER MR. KAPIL JOSHI – CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, QUESS IT STAFFING MR. NITIN DAVE – CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, QUESS STAFFING SOLUTIONS MR. KUSHAL MAHESHWARI – HEAD, (INVESTOR RELATIONS & TREASURY) MODERATOR: MR. SIDDHARTH ZABAK – IIFL CAPITAL SERVICES LIMITED Page 1 of 19 Quess Corp Limited July 30, 2026 Moderator: Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to the Quess Corp Q1 FY27 Earnings Conference Call hosted by IIFL Capital Services Ltd. As a reminder, all participant lines will be in the listen-only mode and there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the presentation concludes. Should you need assistance during this conference call, please signal an operator by pressing “*” then “0” on your touchstone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Siddharth Zabak from IIFL Capital Services Limited. Thank you and over to you, sir. Siddharth Zabak: Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, good morning and thank you for joining us on the Post-Q1 FY27 Results Conference Call for Quess Corp Limited. It is my pleasure to introduce the Senior Management Team at Quess Corp who are here with us today to discuss the Results. We have Mr. Lohit Bhatia – Executive Director and Group CEO, Mr. Neeraj Jain – CFO, Mr. Kushal Maheshwari – Head of Investor Relations, Mr. Kapil Joshi – CEO of Quess IT Staffing, and Mr. Nitin Dave – CEO of Quess Staffing Solutions. We will begin the call with opening remarks by the Management Team and thereafter, we will open the call for the Q&A session. I would like to now hand over the call to Mr. Kushal Maheshwari to take the proceedings forward. Thank you and over to you, Kushal. Kushal Maheshwari: Thank you, Siddharth. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us for our Q1 FY27 Earnings Call. The information, data, and outlook shared by the Management during the call are forward-looking and subject to prevailing business conditions and government policies. All forward-looking statements are subject to economic growth or other risks faced by the company. Please refer to Slide #2 of the Investor Presentation for the Safe Harbor Clause. With that Safe Harbor Clause, I will now hand over the call to our ED and Group CEO – Mr. Lohit Bhatia, for his opening statements. Over to you, Lohit. Lohit Bhatia: Thank you, Kushal. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us for Quess Corp's Q1 FY27 Earnings Call. We are pleased to start Q1 FY27 on a strong note with broad-based growth and improvements in the quality of our earnings. Page 2 of 19 Quess Corp Limited July 30, 2026 For Quarter 1 FY27, we delivered a consolidated revenue of Rs. 4,182 crores, reflecting a 15% year-on-year growth while a 7% quarter-on-quarter growth. The EBITDA during this quarter came in at Rs. 85 crores. This is a 21% year-on-year growth with a margin at 2.02%. PAT stood at Rs. 82 crores, growing at 61% year-on-year and 28% quarter-on-quarter with an EPS of Rs. 5.5, also up 61% year-on-year. During the quarter, due to the implementation of the new Labor Code, resulted in a one-time revenue impact of Rs. 176 crores as well. During this quarter, we received income tax refunds for the past financial years, including interest of Rs. 261 crores, which contributed to higher other income for the period. Importantly, we remain a zero-debt company as of June 2026 with a healthy net cash position, reflecting the continued strength and discipline of our balance sheet. Separately, on the approval of the final dividend in the ensuing and upcoming AGM to be held on 25 August 2026, we will be paying a final dividend for the last financial year of Rs. 3 per share, staying true to our commitment of rewarding our shareholders at every step of the way. Overall, the business performance has been broad-based, growth across every segment and I will just briefly talk about that. Q1 FY27 reflects continued momentum across our portfolio. With all three core segments delivering double-digit revenue growth on a year-on-year basis, we ended the quarter with a headcount of approximately 4,82,214 associates, which is up 4.5% year-on-year, reinforcing our position as India's largest domestic staffing platform. General Staffing business: In our General Staffing business, which has seen resilient growth despite the market environment, General Staffing continued to demonstrate scale leadership and execution discipline delivery. Revenue stood at Rs. 3,596 crores, which is up 15% year-on-year, 8% quarter-on-quarter. The EBITDA for the quarter is at Rs. 51 crores, up 12% YoY, though sequentially down 2%. Headcount stood at Rs. 469,000, with an addition of 3,800-plus associates in a challenging market environment. We, however, added 86 new contracts during this quarter as well in our General Staffing business. The DSO remains tight with 15 days AR, while overall 28 days including the UBR. The growth was led by our CRT, Manufacturing and Allied verticals, while the BFSI saw a marginal decline. We continued to focus on higher-value segments such as construction, Manufacturing and VAS, supported by the investment in technology and AI-led sourcing and productivity initiatives. Moving on to our Professional Staffing vertical – sustained high-quality growth: Page 3 of 19 Quess Corp Limited July 30, 2026 The Professional Staffing delivered another quarter of profitable GCC-led growth. The revenue at Rs. 252 crores is up 3% year-on-year and up 9% quarter-on-quarter. The EBITDA during this quarter has come in at Rs. 28 crores, which is up 12% year-on-year with a margin of 11%. GCCs now contribute 71% of headcount and 68% of revenue, reflecting our continued positioning in high-value growth. Headcount at the quarter-end stood at 7129, up 7% year-on-year. We added 36 new contracts in our Professional Staffing platform during the quarter, with an open mandate of 1,100 positions, primarily in niche and high-value roles. Our gross margin to EBITDA conversion remained healthy 50%, with double-digit EBITDA margins even after absorbing the annual merit cycles and the payouts which are typically for the end of the year, underscoring the structural strength of this business of ours. Overseas business: Overseas business has been consistent with diversified growth. Our overseas business continued to deliver consistent double-digit growth across geographies. Revenue stood at Rs. 333 crores, up 17% year-on-year, broadly flat quarter-on-quarter. EBITDA grew to Rs. 21 crores, up 17% year- on-year, with margins at 6.2%. We added 37 new logos during this quarter, with double-digit growth in both revenue as well as EBITDA. The key highlights across some of our geographies: Singapore: General Staffing business alone added 17 new contracts [Showing first 8,000 characters — download PDF for full document]