Just Dial Q3 FY26 Results: Net Profit Declines 10.2% YoY to ₹118 Crore on Higher Tax Rate and Exceptional Expenses

Just Dial reported mixed financial results for the third quarter of fiscal year 2026, with consolidated net profit declining 10.2% year-on-year despite revenue growth and improved operational efficiency. The company's performance was impacted by regulatory changes and higher tax obligations, though underlying business metrics showed positive momentum.

Financial Performance Overview

The company's financial results for Q3 FY26 reflected both challenges and strengths across different metrics:

Financial Metric:	Q3 FY26	Change (YoY)
Net Profit:	₹118.00 crore	-10.2%
Operating Revenue:	₹305.70 crore	+6.4%
Operating EBITDA:	₹95.20 crore	-
EBITDA Margin:	31.2%	+101 bps
Other Income:	₹84.60 crore	+9.3%
Profit Before Tax:	₹145.60 crore	-2.4%

The decline in net profit was primarily attributed to an increased effective tax rate of 19% for Q3 FY26, compared to 12% in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. Additionally, the company incurred exceptional expenses of ₹21.10 crore arising from employee cost adjustments under the implementation of new labour codes.

Operational Metrics and Business Performance

Despite financial headwinds, Just Dial's core business operations demonstrated resilience with improved user engagement and platform expansion:

Business Metric:	Q3 FY26	YoY Change	QoQ Change
Total Traffic (Unique Visitors):	184.50 million	-3.5%	+6.6%
Total Active Listings:	52.80 million	+11.1%	+3.1%
New Listings Added:	1.58 million	-	-
Geocoded Listings:	37.30 million	+17.3%	-
Total Images in Listings:	250.00 million	+15.7%	-
Active Paid Campaigns:	629,180	+4.7%	+0.8%

The platform's mobile-first approach continued to drive user engagement, with 86.2% of total traffic originating from mobile platforms. Desktop and PC platforms accounted for 11.0% of traffic, while voice platforms contributed 2.8%.

Financial Position and Cash Management

Just Dial maintained a robust financial position with strong cash reserves and improved treasury management. The company's cash and investments stood at ₹5,703.00 crore as of December 31, 2025, representing an increase from ₹5,062.70 crore in the previous year. Other income grew 9.3% year-on-year and 15.5% sequentially, supported by higher treasury balances.

Deferred revenue increased 2.9% year-on-year to ₹521.90 crore, indicating sustained customer engagement and advance bookings. Advertising expenditure during the quarter was approximately ₹9.50 crore, reflecting the company's continued investment in market presence.

Market Response and Outlook

The company's shares closed nearly 2% higher at ₹735.40 on the BSE on Tuesday, January 13, suggesting investor confidence in the underlying business fundamentals despite the quarterly profit decline. Total ratings and reviews reached 155.70 million at the end of the quarter, reflecting a 2.9% year-on-year increase and continued user engagement with the platform.

1 Day	5 Days	1 Month	6 Months	1 Year	5 Years
-1.25%	-0.25%	+1.79%	-23.31%	-19.50%	+0.21%

Just Dial reported mixed third-quarter results, with revenue growth offset by declining profitability as the company continues its focus on AI integration and operational improvements. The digital services platform saw revenue increase while margins expanded, though traffic metrics remained under pressure.

Financial Performance Overview

The company's financial results for the December quarter showed contrasting trends across key metrics:

Metric	Q3 Current Year	Q3 Previous Year	Change (%)
Net Profit	₹117.90 cr	₹131.30 cr	-10.2%
Revenue	₹305.60 cr	₹287.30 cr	+6.4%
EBITDA	₹95.20 cr	₹86.80 cr	+9.6%
EBITDA Margin	31.1%	30.2%	+90 bps

The company's cash and investments position strengthened significantly to ₹5,703.00 crores compared to ₹5,062.70 crores in the previous year and ₹5,569.70 crores in the previous quarter.

Traffic and User Engagement Metrics

User engagement showed mixed performance during the quarter. Quarterly unique visitors reached 184.5 million users, representing a 3.5% decline from the year-ago period but showing sequential improvement with 6.6% growth from the previous quarter.

Platform	Traffic Share
Mobile Platforms	86.2%
Desktop/PC	11.0%
Voice Platform	2.8%

The company's top ratings and reviews increased 2.9% year-on-year to 155.7 million, indicating continued user engagement despite the overall traffic decline.

AI Integration and Technology Initiatives

Just Dial made significant progress in implementing agentic AI across its operations during the quarter. Chief Growth Officer Shwetank Dixit highlighted the automation of critical workflows, including AI-driven analysis of user calls to businesses for identifying genuine category-level intent and automatically creating qualified leads. The company has also deployed AI across backend operations and sales functions.

Looking ahead, the company plans to expand its AI capabilities by rolling out agentic AI voice and chat interfaces to support data verification and customer support. Additionally, AI will be embedded within the search experience to enable more conversational discovery for users.

Analyst Coverage and Market Performance

Citi maintained its buy rating on the stock while adjusting its price target to ₹1,000.00. The brokerage noted that Just Dial needs to invest for growth and expects meaningful EBITDA growth to be driven primarily by operating leverage going forward.

Analyst Action	Details
Rating	Buy (maintained)
Price Target	₹1,000.00
Multiple Revision	10x (reduced from 12x)
Key Concern	Continued traffic decline

Citi has lowered its growth estimates and reduced multiples from 12 times to 10 times, citing the continued decline in traffic as a key concern for future growth prospects.

Just Dial shares ended the previous trading session 1.5% higher at ₹733.00 per share. However, the stock has declined 18.7% over the past year, reflecting investor concerns about the company's growth trajectory and competitive positioning in the digital services market.