CMS Info Systems achieved a record Rs 625 crore in first-quarter FY27 services revenue despite a decade’s worst cash supply squeeze, signalling resilience driven by automation and strategic order wins among India’s largest lenders.
CMS Info Systems said its first-quarter FY27 services revenue rose to a record Rs 625 crore, even as the company absorbed the sharpest cash supply squeeze it has faced in a decade. The Indian cash management and managed services group said the shortfall versus its internal target was driven by banks supplying only about 70% of the currency it had indented, weighing most heavily on its brown label ATM operations and cash logistics work.
Rajiv Kaul, chief executive, said the external constraint cut deeply into volumes, but the business still delivered resilient growth and stronger unit economics. CMS said EBITDA rose 8.9% from a year earlier to Rs 173 crore, while the margin widened to 27.2% from the previous quarter. The company credited automation, pricing discipline and a larger contribution from technology and payments for the improvement. Even so, profit after tax fell 10.6% from a year earlier to Rs 84 crore, as higher depreciation and the revenue hit from the cash shortage offset the operational gains.
The company also trimmed its FY27 services revenue guidance to Rs 2,650 crore-Rs 2,750 crore from Rs 2,700 crore-Rs 2,800 crore, but raised its EBITDA margin outlook to about 27% from 25%-26%. CMS said cash supply conditions have improved in the current quarter, with fulfilment back to about 80%-85% of intended volumes, and it expects normalisation by the end of the quarter. In earlier quarters, the company had already been signalling a steadier recovery in demand and order flow, with stronger revenue growth and expanding margins through FY25 and FY26.
Order wins remained a bright spot. CMS said it secured Rs 500 crore of new business in the quarter, including a five-year mandate from HDFC Bank for 6,000 ATMs, alongside additional contracts for ATM recyclers. The company said that with wins at State Bank of India, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank over the past 18 months, it has strengthened its position among India’s largest lenders. CMS also reiterated that it will not deploy more capital into transaction-based brown label ATMs, instead focusing investment on fixed-fee outsourcing, technology and payments.
The technology and payments arm is emerging as an increasingly important earnings driver. CMS said the segment contributed 18% of services revenue in the quarter, up sharply from 7% in FY22, and it expects that share to move above 20% by the end of FY27. Kaul said the company’s Hawkeye Enterprise product has already been tested in a large public-sector bank deployment, while the pipeline remains healthy. CMS also pointed to lower capital expenditure ahead, with FY27 capex expected at Rs 100 crore-Rs 125 crore, down from Rs 350 crore in FY26, which should help ease depreciation pressure over time.
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