Just Dial Q2: operating revenue hit a record on more paid merchants but net profit falls
Just Dial runs India's digital Yellow Pages where people find local shops and small businesses pay to appear on top. On October 19, 2026 it shared its investor presentation for the quarter ended September 30, 2026 . Paid campaigns hit a record and operating revenue grew 13.1% to Rs 342.8 crore, but net profit fell 9.7% to Rs 107.8 crore as other income dropped .
Main search business grew to a record while net profit slipped
Operating revenue grew fastest in nine quarters
Q2 FY27 means July 1, 2026 to September 30, 2026, and FY27 means April 1, 2026 to March 31, 2027 . Operating revenue is money from the main search-ads business, while operating EBITDA is profit from that main business before interest, tax and wear-and-tear costs.
Source: .
| Metric, unit | Q2 FY27 | Q2 FY26 | Q1 FY27 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Operating revenue, Rs crore | 342.8 | 303.1 | 327.5 |
| Operating EBITDA, Rs crore | 90.7 | 87.1 | 87.4 |
| Operating EBITDA margin, % | 26.4 | 28.7 | 26.7 |
| Other income, Rs crore | 54.6 | 73.3 | 131.5 |
| Profit before tax, Rs crore | 134.6 | 147.0 | 206.6 |
| Net profit or PAT, profit after tax, Rs crore | 107.8 | 119.4 | 166.2 |
| Net margin on total revenue, % | 27.1 | 31.7 | 36.2 |
| Unearned revenue at period-end, Rs crore | 526.1 | 526.0 | 540.1 |
Revenue growth was the strongest year-on-year pace in the recent run, up 13.1% from a year ago and up 4.7% from the previous quarter . Core profit grew more slowly, up 4.1% year-on-year and up 3.7% quarter-on-quarter, so margin slipped from a year ago and from last quarter . Operating profit before tax was up 8.6% year-on-year and up 6.5% quarter-on-quarter .
The longer run shows revenue rising every quarter while core profit stayed in a narrow band.
Source: .
| Period | Operating revenue, Rs crore | Operating EBITDA, Rs crore |
|---|---|---|
| 2Q FY25 | 284.8 | 82.1 |
| 3Q FY25 | 287.3 | 86.6 |
| 4Q FY25 | 289.2 | 86.1 |
| 1Q FY26 | 297.9 | 86.4 |
| 2Q FY26 | 303.1 | 87.1 |
| 3Q FY26 | 305.7 | 95.2 |
| 4Q FY26 | 307.2 | 88.8 |
| 1Q FY27 | 327.5 | 87.4 |
| 2Q FY27 | 342.8 | 90.7 |
The deck calls this driving consistent revenue growth .
Lower treasury income pulled net profit down
Net profit fell because other income, mainly returns on its large cash and investments pile, was weak in the quarter. Other income was down 25.6% year-on-year and down 58.5% from last quarter, so profit before tax and net profit fell on both comparisons . Net margin, which the deck calculates as net profit as a share of total revenue including other income, also slipped from a year ago and from last quarter .
There was no one-time exceptional charge in this quarter. The Rs 21.08 crore labour-code charge for gratuity was recognised as an exceptional item only for the quarter ended December 31, 2025 and the year ended March 31, 2026 . Unearned revenue, which is cash collected in advance for ad campaigns not yet delivered, was flat year-on-year and down 2.6% from end-June .
Paid campaigns reached a new high
Management headlines the quarter as merchants continue to embrace Justdial, with paid adoption growing steadily .
Source: .
| Period-end | Paid campaigns, number |
|---|---|
| 2Q FY25 | 598430 |
| 3Q FY25 | 601080 |
| 4Q FY25 | 613290 |
| 1Q FY26 | 617340 |
| 2Q FY26 | 623970 |
| 3Q FY26 | 629180 |
| 4Q FY26 | 631530 |
| 1Q FY27 | 639200 |
| 2Q FY27 | 656520 |
The latest level was up 5.2% from a year ago and up 2.7% from June, extending a rise in every quarter shown . Paid advertisers pay a fixed fee for search-led campaigns, with premium and non-premium packages deciding placement in results .
The deck describes a wide distribution network and tools intended to make campaigns easier to start and manage:
- Feet-on-street sales teams backed by pan-India tele-sales across 500 plus cities and 11,000 plus pin codes, with headquarters in Mumbai and technology hub in Bengaluru .
- Self-Sign-Up lets businesses start a paid campaign on their own, in minutes, while AI-led onboarding offers automated verification and multilingual support over Whatsapp .
- Once live, merchants get AI-qualified leads to unlock, a real-time analytics dashboard, JD Business as one dashboard to manage campaigns and enquiries, and AI-led replies to reviews .
Listings grew richer with photos and map locations
Management frames this as supported by a growing merchant ecosystem and increasingly rich listing content .
Source: .
| Period-end, million | Q2 FY27 | Q2 FY26 | Q1 FY27 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total listings | 57.4 | 51.2 | 56.1 |
| Listings with geocodes, with map location | 43.0 | 35.9 | 41.7 |
| Images in listings | 269.5 | 239.0 | 262.9 |
| Ratings and reviews | 164.0 | 154.7 | 160.5 |
Total listings were up 12.2% year-on-year and up 2.3% quarter-on-quarter, with net addition of 1,309,647 in the quarter . Listings with map locations were up 19.8% year-on-year, images were up 12.8% year-on-year, and ratings and reviews were up 6.0% year-on-year . The deck flags active listings growth at about 12% and images growth at about 13% year-on-year .
The strategy is described as one business, two sides of the value chain and one control panel, with Justdial handling discovery and JdMart handling supply through verified suppliers and catalogues . JD Mart is presented as a B2B marketplace where product videos and 360-degree views help buyers decide faster, plus a conversational assistant that turns a requirement into matched sellers . For going digital, JD Omni offers cloud tools and a website builder to build a site in minutes . The starting advantage is listed as scale distribution to democratize AI for Indian SMEs, backed by 30 years of proprietary small-business data .
Visitors hit a high as desktop visitors increased
Management says a large consumer base and a growing repository of ratings and reviews support business discovery . Access is framed as one Justdial, accessible anytime, anywhere, on mobile, on the web or over a phone call .
Source: .
| Quarterly unique visitors, million | Q2 FY27 | Q2 FY26 | Q1 FY27 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 198.4 | 197.7 | 192.9 |
| Mobile site and apps | 168.9 | 172.5 | 166.8 |
| Desktop or PC | 24.5 | 19.7 | 20.5 |
| Voice at 88888-88888 | 5.0 | 5.5 | 5.6 |
Total visitors reached a series high, up 0.4% year-on-year and up 2.8% quarter-on-quarter, after dipping through late FY26 . Desktop jumped 24.7% year-on-year while mobile slipped 2.1% and voice fell 9.2%, so desktop share rose to 12.4% from 10.0% a year ago . Traffic share in Q2 FY27 was 85.1% mobile, 12.4% desktop and 2.5% voice . Unique visitors are added across mediums and may not be mutually exclusive .
To lift engagement, the deck points to AI-assisted ratings that make it easy to rate and tag, review insights that distil thousands of reviews into what users liked and what can improve, vertical journeys for categories like doctors, and Ask Genie where users state a need once and get quotes on WhatsApp . Users can search and discover, call and connect, compare with ratings and photos, get maps, pay via JD Pay and use beyond-search services like flight bookings .
Staff cost ratio stayed steady while cash pile grew
Employee cost share stayed stable as other expense share rose
The business is described as continuing to operate at scale, with a largely stable employee-cost base relative to revenue .
Source: .
| Cost as share of operating revenue, % | Q2 FY27 | Q2 FY26 | Q1 FY27 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employee costs | 60.9 | 60.6 | 61.0 |
| Other expenses | 12.7 | 10.7 | 12.3 |
Employee costs barely moved as a share of sales, while other expenses took a larger share than a year ago . The cost chart shows depreciation and interest on leases at 2.2% of operating revenue and a separate depreciation component at 0.9% .
Cash balance grew to fund future plans
Cash and investments are described as a growing treasury balance providing financial flexibility to pursue future opportunities .
Source: .
| Cash and investments at period-end, Rs crore | Q2 FY27 | Q2 FY26 | Q1 FY27 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Balance | 6113.9 | 5569.7 | 6022.1 |
The balance was up 9.8% year-on-year and up 1.5% quarter-on-quarter, continuing a steady build over nine quarters .
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