Three years after IBC rescue, Sical Logistics revenue surges but profit depends on asset sales

Sical Logistics has sharply increased its business since it was rescued under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code in 2023, but the recovery is yet to translate into a sustained operating profit. Consolidated revenue rose to Rs 385.68 crore in FY26 from Rs 221.46 crore a year earlier, while the company reported a net profit of Rs 45.40 crore. However, profit before tax and exceptional items was only Rs 1.50 crore for the year, with land and asset sales providing a substantial part of the reported profit. In the June 2026 quarter, revenue grew another 35.92% to Rs 132.58 crore and net profit stood at Rs 20.08 crore, but PBT was just Rs 5.08 crore.

The company on Sunday disclosed an award letter from Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) for excavation and transportation of iron ore, ICW and sub-grade ore from phase 6 of the Dalli mechanised mine. The order is worth Rs 39.23 crore excluding GST and runs from October 5, 2026 to November 18, 2028.

The new order adds to Sical’s growing operating business, which is largely driven by mining and logistics contracts. Its longer-term revenue visibility also rests on a Rs 4,038-crore, GST-inclusive contract from South Eastern Coalfields for overburden removal at the Porda Chimtapani opencast project in Raigarh, Chhattisgarh.

Creditors’ haircut

The Chennai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) approved Delhi-based Pristine Malwa Logistics Park Pvt Ltd’s resolution plan on December 8, 2022. The monitoring committee declared January 11, 2023 as the effective date. The plan provided about Rs 480.82 crore, plus actual CIRP costs, against admitted claims of about Rs 2,155 crore, implying a recovery of roughly 22%.

Secured financial creditors, excluding bank-guarantee exposure, were allotted Rs 385.32 crore against admitted claims of Rs 936.15 crore. Unsecured financial creditors with Rs 482.63 crore in admitted claims received nothing. Operational creditors, including vendors with Rs 517 crore of admitted claims and statutory authorities with Rs 69.92 crore, also received nothing. Workmen and employee dues of Rs 6.75 crore were paid in full.

According to the annual report, financial creditors were paid in three instalments — Rs 54.32 crore upfront, Rs 105 crore two years after the effective date and Rs 226 crore after two and a half years. The deferred amounts carried 8% interest. Sical said it paid the final Rs 226 crore tranche in FY26 and received no-objection certificates from lenders. Their charges have since been satisfied.

Sical refinanced the final payment through a Rs 250-crore consortium term loan, of which Rs 240 crore was drawn, from Aditya Birla Capital, Piramal Finance and Arka Fincap. The loan was secured against land owned by subsidiaries at Vallur in Chennai and Whitefield in Bengaluru. It was also backed by a pledge of Pristine’s shares in Sical and a corporate guarantee from Pristine.

After prepayments, Rs 84.76 crore was outstanding at the end of March 2026, with the balance due in June 2028. Pristine subsequently released the pledges and non-disposal undertakings on its Sical shares following repayment of the loan on August 26, 2026. The shares pledged with Aditya Birla Capital, Arka Fincap and Piramal Finance were released.

Revenue up, profit from one-offs

Standalone revenue from operations rose more than fourfold to Rs 164.77 crore in FY26 from Rs 40.22 crore a year earlier. Most of the business came from overburden removal at Northern Coalfields’ Nigahi opencast project in Singrauli.

Consolidated revenue rose 74% to Rs 385.68 crore. This includes turnover of Rs 139.88 crore from container freight station subsidiary SMART and Rs 81.45 crore from warehousing arm Pristine Value Logistics.

Sical reported standalone net profit of Rs 39.56 crore in FY26, compared with a loss of Rs 44.04 crore in FY25. Before exceptional items, however, it posted a loss of Rs 16.03 crore.

Two asset-related gains accounted for much of the difference. The company booked a Rs 55.59-crore exceptional gain from the sale of a non-core land parcel and a Rs 29.74-crore gain on the sale of fixed assets under other income. Without these two items, the standalone business would have incurred a loss of about Rs 45.77 crore.

Finance costs rose 74% to Rs 61.54 crore, including Rs 19.68 crore of interest paid to related parties. Standalone operating profit before interest, depreciation and other income was about Rs 41.77 crore, below the finance cost.

Sical also leases 38 pieces of mining equipment from Pristine Malwa. It has approved lease rentals of up to Rs 21.08 crore for FY26, Rs 15.67 crore for FY27 and Rs 15.01 crore for FY28.

Uneven recovery

The quarterly numbers show that the recovery has been uneven. Consolidated sales rose 83.59% year-on-year to Rs 89.81 crore in the September quarter, 87.03% to Rs 93.16 crore in the December quarter and 29.65% to Rs 105.17 crore in the March quarter. But PBT before exceptional items was negative in three of the four quarters of FY26.

In the September quarter, consolidated net profit was Rs 11.71 crore against a loss of Rs 6.62 crore a year earlier, while PBT was Rs 13.97 crore. On a standalone basis, the company reported Rs 31.46 crore of other income against Rs 36.63 crore of revenue from operations. This included the Rs 29.74-crore gain on the sale of fixed assets booked during the year.

In the December quarter, net profit jumped to Rs 48.04 crore even as PBT was a loss of Rs 6.54 crore. The difference was largely the Rs 55.59-crore exceptional gain from the land sale.

In the March quarter, with no comparable one-off gain, Sical reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 9.95 crore against a loss of Rs 4.24 crore a year earlier. PBT was a loss of Rs 5.83 crore.

The recovery showed some improvement in the June 2026 quarter. Consolidated sales rose 35.92% to Rs 132.58 crore and net profit was Rs 20.08 crore against a loss of Rs 4.40 crore a year earlier. PBT was Rs 5.08 crore. Standalone sales were Rs 71.08 crore and net profit Rs 18.35 crore. The board also approved plans to raise Rs 150 crore for asset expansion.

Quarter	Consol. sales (Rs cr)	Consol. PBT before exceptional (Rs cr)	Consol. net profit (Rs cr)	Standalone sales (Rs cr)	Standalone net profit (Rs cr)
Q1 FY26 (Jun 2025)	97.54	-0.11	-4.40	44.00	-6.31
Q2 FY26 (Sep 2025)	89.81	13.97	11.71	36.63	9.94
Q3 FY26 (Dec 2025)	93.16	-6.54	48.04	39.42	47.78
Q4 FY26 (Mar 2026)	105.17	-5.83	-9.95	44.72	-11.85
FY26	385.68	1.50	45.40*	164.77	39.56
Q1 FY27 (Jun 2026)	132.58	5.08	20.08	71.08	18.35

*The audited annual report gives consolidated profit for the year as Rs 49.28 crore.

Balance sheet and order book

The balance sheet is lighter than before but still carries the legacy of the insolvency. Long-term borrowings fell to Rs 276.44 crore from Rs 418.25 crore. Of this, Rs 157.47 crore is unsecured debt owed to related parties.

The company’s debt-equity ratio fell to 1.85 from 14.86. However, standalone retained earnings remained negative at Rs 1,916 crore at the end of March 2026.

The company’s longer-term revenue visibility comes from a letter of acceptance from South Eastern Coalfields for overburden removal at the Porda Chimtapani opencast project in Raigarh, Chhattisgarh. The contract is worth about Rs 4,038 crore including GST over roughly 11 years and seven months, equivalent to about Rs 349 crore a year.

The new SAIL order is equivalent to about 24% of Sical’s FY26 standalone revenue.

There is also fresh insolvency trouble within the group. On August 7, 2026, the NCLT Chennai admitted a Section 10 application filed by wholly owned subsidiary Sical Iron Ore Terminal (Mangalore) Ltd, initiating CIRP against it.

Shareholders

Public shareholders bore a large share of the resolution cost. The erstwhile promoters’ 95.95 lakh shares were extinguished. Public holdings were consolidated at one share for every 15 held, leaving the public with 5% of the company.

Pristine was allotted 6.20 crore shares, representing 95% of the equity, at Rs 287.57 each through conversion of assigned debt.

Pristine has since reduced its stake to meet minimum public shareholding requirements. Its holding fell to 90% by March 2025. A rights issue to public shareholders in March 2026, priced at Rs 64 a share at a ratio of 11 shares for every five held, raised Rs 93.03 crore and reduced Pristine’s holding to 73.50%.

Until the company met the minimum public shareholding requirement, the exchanges had frozen the promoter group’s shares.

Sical shares closed at Rs 87.08 on October 1, 2026, after touching a high of Rs 92 and a low of Rs 87 during the day. The company had a market capitalisation of Rs 694.77 crore.

The stock’s 52-week range is Rs 60.11 to Rs 122.50. The closing price is about 70% below the Rs 287.57 at which Pristine’s debt was converted into equity, but 36% above the Rs 64 rights issue price. It is also about 29% below the 52-week high.

Trading has been restricted for long stretches. The stock was under the exchanges’ additional surveillance measure (ASM) from May 5 to June 30, 2025, and again from September 25 to November 2, 2025. It was placed under ASM again from June 22, 2026, with trading restricted to once a week.

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