The stock of 5Paisa Capital dropped 5% after the company reported a sharp fall in profit for the first quarter of FY26. Net profit came in at just ₹11.55 crore, down 42% year-on-year from ₹19.91 crore in Q1 FY25.
So, what went wrong?
Revenue takes a beating
Revenue from interest dropped 6.09% to ₹33.33 crore, compared to ₹35.49 crore in the same quarter last year. More worryingly, the bigger slice of revenue—fees and commission income—fell 33.55% to ₹44.35 crore from ₹66.74 crore. That’s a big drop and shows pressure on their core business.
Costs fall, but not enough
Total expenses were down 17.4% to ₹62.27 crore, mainly due to cost controls. But it wasn’t enough. Finance costs rose 1.54% to ₹7.27 crore. Even more concerning, employee expenses shot up 50.37% to ₹20.42 crore. Rising payroll at a time of falling revenue hurts margins hard.
5Paisa Capital added 0.80 lakh new clients during the quarter, taking total registered users to 4.91 million. That’s a good sign. But clearly, new clients aren’t bringing in enough revenue yet.
What the CEO said
Despite the weak numbers, the company is sounding confident. CEO Gaurav Seth said that Q1 FY26 started strong for the broking industry. He mentioned better investor sentiment, thanks to easing global risks and stronger Indian indicators.
Seth pointed out that the Nifty and Sensex both bounced 16% from recent lows. Exchange-level retail premium turnover also grew. As a result, quarter-on-quarter income rose 9% and profit rose 15%, which sounds better when compared to just the previous quarter.
The company is betting big on AI integration, tech upgrades, and quality customer onboarding. The hope is that this will help in long-term growth, even if short-term numbers disappoint.
5Paisa Capital remains a strong digital player in India’s retail broking space. But with falling revenue and ballooning employee costs, it’s clear the platform is facing pressure. The question is—can innovation and scale fix the cracks?
For now, investors are not convinced. The sharp drop in profit and 5% fall in 5Paisa Capital shares shows that the street is worried.
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