Sterling and Wilson Renewable Energy Limited — Q1 FY27 earnings call

Call held 17 Jul 2026

Management summary

Sterling and Wilson Renewable Energy Limited reported a mixed Q1 FY27, marked by a significant increase in its unexecuted order value to over INR 13,000 crores, driven by a landmark USD 560 million solar-plus-storage project in Egypt. While the O&M segment showed strong 40% YoY revenue growth and PAT increased by 36% YoY, overall Q1 revenue declined due to project delays and a slow domestic market. The company maintains its FY27 revenue growth guidance of 10-15% and expects execution to pick up significantly in the second half of the fiscal year, while managing working capital and arbitration claims.

Highlights

  • Unexecuted Order Value (UOV) exceeded INR 13,000 crores, marking a historical high for the company.

  • Secured a landmark 1,000 MW AC solar PV plant integrated with 600 MWh BESS project in Egypt, valued at USD 560 million.

  • O&M segment revenue grew approximately 40% year-on-year, with peak capacities under operations reaching a record 18.3 gigawatts.

  • PAT for Q1 FY27 grew 36% year-on-year to INR 53 crores, benefiting from lower effective taxation rates.

  • Gross borrowings declined by approximately INR 130 crores this quarter due to scheduled repayments of term loans.

Concerns

  • Q1 FY27 revenue declined to INR 1,590 crores, lower both sequentially and year-on-year, primarily due to project delays and slower execution in international EPC.

  • The domestic solar EPC market remained slow for the second consecutive quarter due to geographical tensions, volatile commodity prices, and high domestic module prices.

  • Gross margins for Q1 FY27 were 9.9%, a decrease from 10.5% in FY26, with EPC gross margin guidance revised to 8-10%.

Key financials

  1. Revenue ₹1,590 Cr
  2. Gross Margin 9.9%
  3. Operational EBITDA ₹78 Cr
  4. Operational EBITDA Margin 4.9%
  5. Reported EBITDA ₹96 Cr
  6. PAT ₹53 Cr +36%YoY
  7. Net Working Capital ₹-260 Cr

What they filed

Q1 FY27: revenue down 9.8%, net profit up 35.9% against the same quarter last year.

₹ Cr · quarterly
Line itemQ2 FY25Q3 FY25Q4 FY25Q1 FY26Q2 FY26Q3 FY26Q4 FY26Q1 FY27
Revenue1,030 1,837 2,519 1,762 1,749 +70%2,092 +14%1,946 −23%1,590 −10%
EBITDA18 70 134 85 4 −78%67 −4%146 +9%79 −7%
Net profit9 17 55 39 -478 −5411%2 −88%142 +158%53 +36%
How to read this

₹ crore, as filed. The percentage beside a figure is the change against the same quarter a year earlier — never the quarter before, which would make every seasonal business look like it collapses and booms each year.

Segment breakdown

  • O&M Segment
    40% Revenue Growth18.3 gigawatts Peak Capacity Under Operations

Order book

high confidence

Total value

₹13,000 Cr

as of 2026-06-30 quantified

Inflow this quarter

₹6,400 Cr

Execution

Orders won in H2 FY26 and Q1 FY27 (INR 9,000 crores) expected to contribute meaningfully in H2 FY27.

Composition

  • Turnkey Projects (yet to commence execution) (contract type) ₹9,000 Cr

Pipeline

qualified rfp

Order pipeline of 25 GW utility scale and 35 GWh BESS

Cancellations & deferrals

  • deferred: NTP dates or LOA for new projects were delayed, impacting Q1 revenue contribution.
The company has achieved a record UOV, but Q1 revenue was impacted by project delays. Management is confident in the strong pipeline and expects significant execution ramp-up in H2 FY27.

Source: Prepared remarks

Capital allocation

high confidence
  • Debt Debt disclosed
    • Repayment Gross borrowings declined due to scheduled repayments of term loans. ₹130 Cr
    • New borrowing Obtained fresh credit lines to support growth momentum. ₹3,200 Cr
    Our net debt levels have remained largely stable this quarter. Our gross borrowings declined by approximately INR130 crores this quarter due to scheduled repayments of term loans.
  • Liquidity Liquidity disclosed Company anticipates working capital cycle improvement from collections on new large projects. Fresh limits on non-fund and fund-based requirements are being secured.
    As CKT mentioned earlier, with the improved collections from the new large projects, we anticipate the working capital cycle to continue to improve. We continue to make good progress on fresh limits on non-fund and fund-based requirement.

Guidance & targets

Revenue

  • Revenue Growth Revenue · FY27 · High confidence 10-15%
    we are confident of maintaining our market share, which, in our view, should enable us to deliver 10% to 15% growth in revenue, this fiscal despite the high base of financial year '26.

    — C.K. Thakur

  • O&M Revenue Revenue · FY27 · High confidence INR 400-450 crores

    From INR 268 crores (last year) today

    We expect a revenue of more than INR400 crores, in the range of INR400 crores to INR450 crores in the current year from O&M business, vis-a-vis around INR268 crores in the last year.

    — Ajit Pratap Singh

Margin

  • EPC Gross Margin Margin · FY27 · High confidence 8-10%
    On the gross margin front, our Q1 FY27 gross margins were around 9.9% compared to 10.5% in FY26. We expect the EPC gross margin to range between 8% to 10%, depending on the project mix of turnkey and BoS.

    — Ajit Pratap Singh

  • O&M Gross Margin Margin · FY27 · High confidence 20%
    On the O&M side, we expect gross margins to stabilize at around 20% level.

    — Ajit Pratap Singh

Capacity

  • O&M Capacity Capacity · FY28 · High confidence 25 gigawatts
    And where do you see O&M capacity going to 25 gigawatts by FY28?

    — Kenil Mehta (analyst, quoting management)

Order Book

  • Order Book Growth Order Book · FY27 · High confidence 10-15%
    So from that base, we are expecting the growth at least 10% to 15%. So yes, I mean, you can anticipate the additions of 10% to 15% over the last year.

    — C.K. Thakur

  • Order Book Value Order Book · FY27 · High confidence >INR 10,000 crores
    We can say that the order book would be definitely more than INR10,000 crores in this financial year.

    — C.K. Thakur

Market Opportunity

  • BESS Market Opportunity Market Opportunity · next 2-3 years · Medium confidence 35-40 gigawatt
    So I'm expecting that in the next 2 to 3 years, the opportunities to be made available in the market will be in the tune of, let's say, 35 to 40 gigawatt, right?

    — C.K. Thakur

What to watch in Q2 FY27

Execution pace of INR 9,000 crores worth of projects

Second half of the fiscal year (FY27)
Current Yet to commence execution
Target Meaningful contribution to revenue

Why it matters

These projects are a significant portion of the UOV and are crucial for meeting FY27 revenue growth guidance.

The total value of these 6 projects is approximately INR9,000 crores. These orders were won during the second half of financial year '26 and Q1 FY27. We expect these orders to start contributing more meaningfully during the second half of the fiscal year.

Risks & concerns

  • Slow domestic solar EPC market

    medium

    The domestic solar EPC market remained slow for the second consecutive quarter due to geographical tensions, volatile commodity prices, and high domestic module prices, deferring new project awards.

    Management acknowledged

  • Project delays impacting revenue recognition

    medium

    NTP dates or LOA for new projects were delayed, preventing their contribution to Q1 FY27 revenue streams.

    Management acknowledged

  • BESS market turbulence and potential margin pressure

    medium

    The battery side market could be turbulent, and margins might be lower than PV modules, though current BESS supply is not in the company's scope.

    Management acknowledged

  • Long resolution period for arbitration claims

    medium

    Major arbitration claims, particularly from US projects, are in court and could take 2-3 years to resolve.

    Analyst acknowledged

  • Aggressive bidding by new entrants

    low

    Some new entrants have gone aggressive in bidding, but the company remains patient for profitable orders.

    Management acknowledged

Q&A highlights

6 direct
Q1 Revenue Decline & FY27 Growth Guidance Revision Direct
The assumption was that revenue would be coming from the projects in hand and the new orders where we were announced L1 in Q3 and Q4. The NTP dates or LOA for these projects were delayed for the specific reasons and the contributions from those new orders could not add to this quarter's revenue streams.

Addresses the discrepancy between strong order inflows and declining Q1 revenue, explaining the impact of project delays on execution and the slight revision in full-year growth guidance.

Asked by Kunal Shah

Egypt Mega Order Lifecycle & Execution Start Direct
The project is for 13 to 15 months' time after the NTP, 2 months LNTP period. And the NTP of this project, we are expecting in September. With this September NTP, we are expecting that the revenue contribution from this project will add to the last quarter of this financial year.

Provides clarity on the timeline and revenue contribution of a significant new international project.

Asked by Kunal Shah

Use of Banking Limits for New Orders (Adani, Parent, Egypt) Partial
For this Egypt order, there could be part amount which we use from existing credit lines and partly, we can get the new credit lines for project-specific requirement. For Adani, there is no specific requirement for using credit lines, because supplies are primarily from their side. And from parent company, we've still not closed the terms. So it would be speculative if you say anything in terms of requirement of credit lines.

Addresses concerns about the company's financial capacity and reliance on existing credit lines for large new projects, especially those with related parties.

Asked by Kunal Shah

Impact of DCR Category and ALMM on Execution & Margins Direct
The Coal India orders we won is under DCR category. Interestingly, we have already locked the price, the price at which we have -- I mean we submitted our bids. So despite the fact that the market is not stabilized, the DCR market, there are a lot of speculations all around. But the Coal India would be the first order where the DCR model's demonstration will come. And fortunately, we have locked the price, and we don't anticipate any impact on to the module price increase because of the market upsurge.

Clarifies how the company is managing risks associated with DCR (Domestic Content Requirement) policy and volatile module prices for new orders.

Asked by Yash Jhurani

Execution Bottleneck for H2 FY27 Revenue Targets Direct
Point well noted, and we are mindful of this point that our target for quarter 3 and quarter 4 is going to be heavy. We're mindful of this thing. So we are well prepared for that... Q4 of FY25, I think we did more than INR2,500 crores. Yes, we have demonstrated already.

Addresses analyst concern about the company's ability to ramp up execution significantly in H2 to meet full-year revenue guidance, with management expressing confidence based on past performance.

Asked by Jayesh Shroff

Recovery of INR 1,800 Crores in Claims/Arbitration Partial
So basically, if you see, out of these claims, so large claims are from the U.S. 2 projects, right, 2 orders. And they are in the court. The settlement of this case in the court will take, let's say, 2 to 3 years' time. I mean, conservatively, I can say a minimum 2 years, it's going to go up to 3 years' time. So rest as others are basically -- I mean could be settled much earlier, either through settlement or through the arbitration process being concluded. But the two claims will go longer.

Provides an update on the timeline for resolving significant outstanding claims, indicating a long resolution period for major cases.

Asked by Adwait Javkar

BESS Sourcing Strategy & Market Maturity in India Direct
Sourcing strategy, see currently, I mean, we don't have Indian market matured enough to get the battery in India... So we are very, very carefully evaluating that who all could be our partners in the future, particularly looking at their performance and all - because as a EPC company, the performance criteria comes on our head.

Highlights the nascent stage of the Indian BESS market and the company's cautious approach to sourcing and partnerships, emphasizing risk mitigation.

Asked by Balasubramanian

O&M Capacity Growth and Revenue Contribution Direct
So last year we completed around 5.8 gigawatt DC commissioning. And all those projects which we commissioned, I mean, straight they have come to the O&M stage because those orders were for 2 to 3 years of O&M in our scope... We expect a revenue of more than INR400 crores, in the range of INR400 crores to INR450 crores in the current year from O&M business, vis-a-vis around INR268 crores in the last year.

Explains the significant increase in O&M capacity and provides clear revenue guidance for the O&M segment, which is a key annuity stream.

Asked by Kenil Mehta

3 min read 8 chapters

Detailed narrative

Q1 FY27 Performance Overview

Sterling and Wilson Renewable Energy Limited reported Q1 FY27 revenue of INR 1,590 crores, a decline both sequentially and year-on-year. This was primarily attributed to project delays and slower execution in the international EPC segment. Despite the revenue dip, the company's PAT grew 36% YoY to INR 53 crores, aided by lower effective taxation rates. Operational EBITDA stood at INR 78 crores, with a margin of 4.9%, while reported EBITDA was INR 96 crores, positively impacted by forex gains.

Order Book & Pipeline Dynamics

The company achieved a significant milestone with its Unexecuted Order Value (UOV) exceeding INR 13,000 crores, a historical high. New order inflows for the quarter amounted to INR 6,400 crores, including both PSU and IPP projects. A substantial portion of the current UOV, comprising 6 turnkey projects (3 domestic, 3 international) valued at INR 9,000 crores, is yet to commence execution. The bidding pipeline remains robust, estimated at INR 45,000-50,000 crores, including 25 GW of utility-scale and 35 GWh of BESS projects.

International Expansion & Key Project Wins

A major highlight of the quarter was the award of a landmark 1,000 MW AC solar PV plant integrated with a 600 MWh battery energy storage system in Minya Governorate, Egypt. This USD 560 million project, secured through a 50-50 joint venture with Hassan Allam Construction, marks the company's third gigawatt-scale order win in nine months. Execution for this project is expected to commence after NTP in September 2026, contributing to revenue from Q4 FY27.

O&M Segment Growth & Outlook

The Operations and Maintenance (O&M) segment demonstrated strong performance, with revenue growing approximately 40% year-on-year. The company now manages a record 18.3 gigawatts of peak capacities under operations. Management anticipates full contribution from this portfolio starting Q3 FY27, expecting O&M gross margins to stabilize at around 20%. The O&M business is projected to generate INR 400-450 crores in revenue for the current fiscal year, up from INR 268 crores last year.

Working Capital & Debt Management

Net debt levels remained largely stable during the quarter, with gross borrowings declining by INR 130 crores due to scheduled term loan repayments. The net working capital stood at negative INR 260 crores, an improvement from negative INR 329 crores in the previous quarter. The company expects further working capital cycle improvement from collections on new large projects and has secured fresh credit lines totaling over INR 3,200 crores to support growth.

Market Outlook & BESS Opportunity

The domestic solar EPC market experienced a slowdown for the second consecutive quarter due to geopolitical tensions, volatile commodity prices, and high module prices. However, the company anticipates ordering activity to pick up from Q2 FY27. The battery energy storage system (BESS) market is growing exponentially, with an estimated opportunity of 35-40 GW in the next 2-3 years. The company is cautiously evaluating sourcing strategies and partnerships in the nascent Indian BESS market.

Reliance Group Collaboration & Strategic Focus

Sterling and Wilson's engagement with the Reliance Group continues to deepen, particularly regarding the development of a large integrated renewable energy hub in Kutch, Gujarat. The company is working closely with Reliance on technical configuration and execution readiness, expecting to secure a significant share of this initiative. Management emphasized a philosophy of disciplined project selection, focusing on margin-accretive projects and mitigating risks through back-to-back pricing arrangements and avoiding mandates with uncontrollable risks.

Project Execution Challenges & Risk Mitigation

Q1 revenue was impacted by delays in NTP dates and Letters of Award for new projects. Management acknowledged the challenge of ramping up execution in H2 FY27 to meet full-year guidance but expressed confidence based on past performance. For DCR category projects, prices have been locked, mitigating module price increase risks. The company is also managing significant arbitration claims, with major US cases expected to take 2-3 years for resolution, while INR 120-130 crores from indemnity are anticipated in the current year.

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