Dhunseri Tea's Profit Falls 68%, Just Over Half of It Tax
Consolidated net profit for the June 2026 quarter fell 68.50% to Rs 4.52 crore even as the operating margin improved; a little over half the decline traces to an effective tax rate that rose from 10.36% to 59.79%, which neither source explains, and the rest to a genuine drop in pre-tax profit.
Dhunseri Tea & Industries reported consolidated net profit of Rs 4.52 crore (about US$520,000) for the June 2026 quarter, down 68.50% from a year earlier, with just over half the decline traced to tax.
The board approved the figures on August 12, according to Screener's tabulation of the filing; Business Standard's report of the same disclosure was published the next day. The figures show an operating business that held together. Sales fell 25.96% to Rs 85.13 crore (about US$9.8 million) from Rs 114.98 crore in the June 2025 quarter. Operating profit fell to Rs 20.26 crore from Rs 24.06 crore, down about 16%. The operating margin moved the other way, to 23.80% from 20.93%. Less revenue, and a better margin on what was left.
Below that line the quarter stays orderly. Other income was Rs 0.95 crore against Rs 1.53 crore, interest cost rose to Rs 5.10 crore from Rs 4.32 crore, and depreciation eased to Rs 4.87 crore from Rs 5.25 crore. Profit before tax came in at Rs 11.24 crore against Rs 16.02 crore, down about 30%.
The distance between that 30% and the 68.50% at the bottom is the tax line. The effective tax rate for the quarter was 59.79%, against 10.36% a year earlier, nearly six times the rate applied to a smaller pre-tax profit. Earnings per share fell to Rs 4.30 from Rs 13.66.
Splitting the two effects apart puts a number on each. Had the tax rate held at last year's 10.36% on this year's lower pre-tax profit, net profit would have come in near Rs 10.08 crore, not Rs 4.52 crore. On that arithmetic, the tax-rate jump accounts for about Rs 5.56 crore of the Rs 9.83 crore decline, a little over half; the rest, roughly Rs 4.27 crore, is the plain fall in pre-tax profit described above. Tax is the larger factor, not the whole story.
Neither Business Standard's report of the filing nor Screener's tabulation of it states a reason for the jump, and no management commentary accompanied either. A rate that moves that far usually has a technical explanation. On the record available it is not given, so it is not reported here.
The company is one whose FY26 profit came from selling two Assam estates rather than from tea. Against that, a quarter in which the operating margin improved, even as tax took the larger bite out of what was left, is the number worth reading.
Sources: Business Standard, Dhunseri Tea & Industries consolidated net profit declines 68.50% in the June 2026 quarter; Screener, Dhunseri Tea & Industries Ltd.