New Delhi, May 29 -- Prima facie, the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corp Ltd's Ebitda margin of 27.3% in the March quarter (Q4FY26) seems like a big disappointment because it was the lowest in at least the past 12 quarters. The management clarified on the earnings call that the Q4 margin was affected due to a steep jump in some expenses that did not pertain to the quarter.

These expenses included corporate social responsibility (CSR) spending of Rs.31 crore (Q4FY25: Rs.7 crore) and expected credit loss from debtors of Rs.16 crore (Q4FY25: Rs.8 crore). Adjusted for this, the Q4FY26 Ebitda margin would have been 30%, flattish year-on-year. CSR tends to be lumpy across quarters as projects take time to be approved and implemented, sai...