Elevate Campuses posts 30% income growth in first listed quarter as IPO cuts debt
On October 19, 2026, Elevate Campuses Ltd filed its Q1FY27 investor presentation for the quarter ended June 30, 2026, its first quarterly disclosure after listing . Elevate owns student hostels inside universities and owns school campuses that it rents to schools . Total income rose 30% year on year to Rs 228.1 crore with profit after tax before exceptional items up 5%, while the Rs 2,100.0 crore IPO supported management’s proforma net-debt and cash-earnings estimates .
Q1 income grew 30% while PAT before exceptional items grew 5%
The quarter covers unaudited consolidated results for April to June 2026, before the September 30, 2026 listing . The statutory results account retrospectively for school entities acquired after June under common-control accounting, with prior-period financial information restated . Growth came with very high operating margins, but PAT before exceptional items grew more slowly than income; reported PAT fell 71% .
Source: .
| Particulars, Rs crore | Q1FY27 | Q1FY26 | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue from operations | 219.2 | 166.9 | 31% |
| Total income | 228.1 | 176.1 | 30% |
| EBITDA | 173.6 | 136.6 | 27% |
| EBITDA margin | 76.1% | 77.6% | - |
| Profit before exceptional items and tax | 49.4 | 45.0 | 10% |
| Profit after tax before exceptional items | 39.3 | 37.5 | 5% |
| Reported profit after tax | 34.1 | 118.7 | -71% |
The margin stayed above 76%, so the business kept most of each rupee of income after day-to-day operating costs . The step down from operating profit to net profit reflects what sits below that line .
Interest and one-offs explain the profit gap
Higher finance costs and depreciation absorbed much of the EBITDA increase, limiting growth in profit before exceptional items and tax .
Source: .
| Costs, Rs crore | Q1FY27 | Q1FY26 |
|---|---|---|
| Employee expenses | 16.5 | 10.0 |
| Other expenses | 38.0 | 29.5 |
| Depreciation | 41.2 | 26.2 |
| Finance costs | 83.0 | 65.4 |
Reported profit also moved on different one-offs in the two quarters . Q1FY27 included non-cash impairment and accelerated depreciation on terminated contracts, while Q1FY26 included a gain on sale of TAPMI owned student accommodation . That mix explains why reported profit fell even as operating profit and pre-exceptional profit rose .
Cash earnings adjust for leases and IPO saving
Management gives a normalised view that mainly removes Ind AS adjustments for lease equalisation, finance lease and security deposits . Normalised EBITDA was Rs 156.9 crore at 77.0% margin, up 23% year on year, slightly below reported EBITDA but at a slightly higher margin rate .
Source: .
| Cash earnings bridge, Rs crore | Q1FY27 |
|---|---|
| Normalised EBITDA | 156.9 |
| Less: finance cost | 83.0 |
| Add: potential interest saving from IPO repayment | 14.0 |
| Less: tax | 10.1 |
| Proforma cash PAT | 77.8 |
Proforma cash PAT, or profit after tax, is defined as normalised EBITDA minus finance cost plus potential interest saving from IPO debt repayment minus tax . It is framed as underlying cash earnings after allowing for the interest benefit of using IPO money to repay debt .
Long contracts lock in rent with downside cover
Elevate describes itself as an independent education infrastructure and services company across higher education hostels and K-12 school campuses in India and Dubai, operating in 13 states .
In owned and managed hostels, the university gives a 50-60 year contract, Elevate owns and manages the hostel and collects hostel and service fees from students . In managed hostels, Elevate works under a management agreement and earns management or service fees . In K-12, Elevate owns the campus, leases it to schools for 15-30 years and collects rent .
Protection comes from minimum revenue escalation in contracts and guarantee or take-or-pay cover at 88% portfolio-level minimum guarantee, measured as on July 01, 2026 for owned and managed hostels excluding Woodstock . The platform also cites exclusivity on campuses and a negative working capital cycle, where cash comes in before it goes out .
IPO cash bought schools and cut debt
The IPO listed on NSE as ELEVATE and BSE as 544945 on September 30, 2026 . Promoters held by Hillhouse funds own 65.6% after listing, with 34.4% with the public .
IPO paid for 16 schools and debt repayment
By October 19, 2026, most of the issue was deployed, leaving a small balance to be used .
Source: .
| IPO object, Rs crore | Allocated | Utilised | Balance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Acquisition of K-12 entities and campuses | 1100.0 | 1083.7 | 16.3 |
| Repayment or prepayment of debt | 750.0 | 711.5 | 38.5 |
| Acquisitions, strategic initiatives and general corporate purposes | 250.0 | 34.6 | 215.4 |
| Total | 2100.0 | 1829.8 | 270.2 |
The 16 K-12 campuses in India were acquired using IPO proceeds. The portfolio also includes 2 K-12 assets in the UAE . The small K-12 balance is withholding tax to be deposited by November 07, 2026, while general corporate purposes includes Rs 120.4 crore of IPO expenses .
Proforma net debt estimated at Rs 2,432.2 crore after IPO
Management presents a proforma net-debt estimate after the planned use of IPO proceeds. This differs from completed debt repayment: the utilisation table records Rs 711.5 crore repaid by October 19, 2026, against the Rs 750.0 crore allocation used in the proforma estimate .
Source: .
| Debt position, Rs crore | Amount |
|---|---|
| INR denominated debt | 2624.2 |
| AED denominated debt | 1314.0 |
| Cash position | 596.0 |
| Net block | 6411.4 |
| Net debt pre-IPO | 3342.2 |
| Proforma net debt post-IPO | 2432.2 |
The company’s proforma net-debt reduction of Rs 910.0 crore comprises the full Rs 750.0 crore debt-repayment allocation and Rs 160.0 crore of IPO proceeds for general corporate purposes after expenses. The latter is a net-debt adjustment, not a disclosed additional loan repayment . However, the IPO-use slide gives a Rs 250.0 crore allocation including Rs 120.4 crore of IPO expenses, which does not reconcile with the Rs 160.0 crore after-expense figure in the debt slide. The proforma figures are retained as company estimates, pending reconciliation of that difference . Average rates are 9.2% on INR debt and 6.1% on AED debt, with 9 years weighted average loan tenure . Proforma leverage is 29% of enterprise value at IPO price and 3.50 times annualised Q1FY27 EBITDA, with an A with stable outlook from CareEdge before IPO and repayment .
Pipeline adds hostel beds and school floors
As of June 30, 2026, the build-out totals 2,126 beds across 2 higher education institutions plus 3,83,000 sq. ft. of K-12 space . Total estimated project cost is about Rs 646.5 crore with pending capex of about Rs 370.0 crore .
Source: .
| Institution | Vertical | Size |
|---|---|---|
| IIT Madras, Tamil Nadu | Student accommodation | 1878 beds |
| UPES, Uttarakhand | Student accommodation | 248 beds |
| St Andrews Keesara expansion | K-12 | about 60000 sq ft |
| St Andrews Suchitra Block F | K-12 | about 182000 sq ft |
| St Andrews Suchitra future | K-12 | about 95000 sq ft |
| Billabong High expansion | K-12 | about 46000 sq ft |
IIT Madras is a greenfield public-private partnership where pre-construction is complete and construction is to commence . At UPES, land allows about 750 beds and the building plan for the first 248 beds is approved .
Re-leased campuses run full as Woodstock restarts
The presentation’s June 30, 2026 portfolio snapshot reports 18 K-12 campuses and 21 student accommodation campuses with 20,368 owned beds, 58,174 managed beds and 1,07,028 student capacity . The school count includes the 16 Indian campuses acquired using IPO proceeds after the quarter; it should be read with the retrospective accounting basis rather than as their legal acquisition date . Owned-bed occupancy as on July 01, 2026 was 95%, with about 5% vacancy tied to Woodstock in Karnataka which earned about Rs 4.1 crore in FY26 .
County in Karnataka, a freehold campus with over 1,000 beds, was refurbished, contracted to International Institute of Information Technology, Bangalore and reached 100% occupancy after relaunch . UPES is also at 100% occupancy, while Manav Rachna added 832 beds and was upgraded before the onboarding season . Woodstock, with over 1,000 beds, was repositioned and relaunched on July 15, 2026 as women-centric accommodation focused on safety, community and quality living .
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Sources
- 1 Investor Presentation on the Unaudited Consolidated and Standalone Financial Results for the the Quarter ended June 30, 2026
- 2 Elevate Campuses Ltd - 544945 - Unaudited Consolidated And Standalone Financial Results For The Quarter Ended June 30, 2026
- 3 Elevate Campuses Ltd - 544945 - Disclosures under Reg. 29(1) of SEBI (SAST) Regulations, 2011