PB Fintech reported a 92% year-on-year (YoY) rise in profit after tax for the June quarter, helped by strong growth in insurance premium, higher operating revenue and better margins. The Policybazaar parent posted consolidated profit after tax of Rs 163 crore in Q1FY27, compared with a PAT margin of 6% in the same quarter last year. PAT margin improved to 9% in the June quarter.

Operating revenue rose 40% YoY to Rs 1,888 crore. The company said total insurance premium grew 41% YoY to Rs 8,372 crore. Growth was led by the protection business, which includes health and term insurance. New protection premium rose 53% YoY, while new health insurance premium grew 59%.

PB Fintech said its core online insurance premium grew 41% YoY in Q1FY27. Core new insurance premium, excluding the savings business, rose 48%. Including savings, core new insurance premium grew 39%.

The company said growth, excluding the savings category, has stayed above 34% YoY for 13 straight quarters. Core insurance revenue rose 46% YoY during the quarter. The company also said its insurance customer satisfaction score remained above 90%, supported by improvements in customer onboarding and claims support.

PB Fintech said its core renewal and trail revenue on a 12-month rolling basis stood at Rs 1,003 crore, up from Rs 725 crore in the same quarter last year. This was a 38% rise, led by 55% growth in the insurance segment.

Quarterly core insurance renewal revenue was at an annual recurring revenue run-rate of Rs 999 crore, up from Rs 673 crore in Q1 last year. The company said renewal revenue is a key driver of long-term profit growth.
PB Fintech’s total lending disbursal for the quarter stood at Rs 4,366 crore. Core lending disbursal rose 33% year-on-year to Rs 2,776 crore. Core credit revenue increased 25% year-on-year to Rs 127 crore.The company said core credit disbursal and revenue have grown for four straight quarters. New initiatives business continued to grow, with Q1FY27 revenue rising 35% YoY. Adjusted EBITDA margin in new initiatives improved to negative 5% from negative 6% a year earlier. Contribution margin stood at 7%.

PB Partners, the company’s agent aggregator platform, remained a key part of the new initiatives business. It had more than 5 lakh advisors, while active partner count rose 55% year-on-year to 1.13 lakh in Q1FY27.

Domestic brokerage firm Axis Direct expects Nifty to reach 28,615 by December this year in a bull case scenario, based on a 20.5x valuation. A revival in domestic private capex, backed by policy continuity, improving business confidence, political stability, fiscal discipline and a rural recovery, is expected to drive growth. Markets are also closely watching the global outlook under U.S. President Donald Trump, with tariff-related uncertainties expected to ease in 2026.

With Nifty earnings expected to sustain a 13%+ CAGR over FY23–28, this backdrop could attract fresh capital inflows into Indian markets and support a re-rating of valuations, strengthening the equity outlook.

In a base case scenario, Axis maintains the Nifty target at 27,220 for December, while remaining constructive on Indian equities, supported by strong macroeconomic fundamentals, sustained government capital expenditure, GST 2.0 reforms and an improving corporate earnings cycle. The brokerage has based the target on 19.5x December 2027E earnings.

The brokerage expects Nifty earnings to grow at 13% CAGR over FY23–FY28, led by financials, underpinning healthy medium-term market returns, and notes that geopolitical tensions, crude oil volatility and currency movements may create near-term volatility.

Axis Direct recommends investors maintain good liquidity (10-15%) to use any dips in a phased manner, amid market volatility, and build a position in companies where the earnings visibility is quite high, with an investment horizon of 12-18 months.

While extreme volatility has subsided as per India VIX, the market is not entirely out of the woods. Intermittent spikes may persist, especially given ongoing global uncertainties.
The near term outlook for the Indian economy and corporate earnings may witness increased volatility, driven by commodity price movements, global risk aversion, and foreign fund flows.However, the medium-to-long-term outlook remains constructive, supported by domestic demand resilience, improving earnings visibility, and structural reforms.

Axis values Nifty at 16.5x in a bear case scenario, implying a target of 23,030 in December this year.

While valuations may remain above average amid potential policy shifts under the Trump regime, persistent inflation in developed markets and historically elevated interest rates increase downside risks.

Uncertainty around currency movements, oil prices, and global trade is likely to weigh on export-driven growth in 2026. Additionally, concerns over global growth, exacerbated by tariffs and geopolitical tensions, could compress market multiples in the near term.

Elevated Valuations
The Nifty is currently trading slightly above its long-term average valuation multiples (18.4x) and continues to command a premium over most emerging markets. The premium is supported by superior earnings growth, stronger corporate governance, macroeconomic stability and favourable demographic trends. However, elevated valuations imply that future market appreciation will increasingly depend on earnings upgrades rather than multiple expansion.

Also Read | Inside LIC’s Rs 16 lakh crore portfolio: Its biggest stock buys and sells in June quarter

Going forward, market performance is likely to be driven increasingly by sustained earnings growth, healthy free cash flow generation, improving ROCE and balance-sheet strength, rather than further valuation expansion. Companies that can navigate cost pressures while maintaining growth and generating consistent cash flows are likely to emerge as key outperformers through FY27. Axis continues to favour a bottom-up approach, with greater emphasis on quality growth companies having sustainable business models, pricing power, strong earnings visibility and execution capabilities.

In this environment, Axis Direct has maintained an overweight stance on BFSI, Telecom, Capital goods, Healthcare, Auto, Power & Energy, but it remains cautious on IT in the medium term, led by AI disruption.

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)

This article was written by

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Ireland’s online betting market has rarely been busier. A World Cup summer has pushed sports betting turnover to seasonal highs, while the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland (GRAI) continues to roll out the country’s first dedicated licensing regime in decades.

The result is a market in which sportsbooks are competing harder than ever for Irish customers, on odds, mobile apps and payout speed rather than marketing spend alone.

That competition has changed how punters choose where to bet. Instead of defaulting to the most familiar high-street name, a growing share of customers now compare Irish betting sites on the measures that matter over a full season: the depth of GAA and horse racing markets, everyday odds value, withdrawal times and how well a bet slip holds up on a phone. Independent comparison platforms such as Topend Sports now test operators with real deposits before ranking them, a sign of how much more discerning the Irish bettor has become.

A newly regulated market takes shape

The backdrop to all of this is the Gambling Regulation Act 2024, the most significant overhaul of Irish gambling law in almost seventy years. The Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland, established in March 2025, is phasing in a licensing framework covering betting, gaming and lotteries, alongside consumer protections that include a ban on gambling with credit cards and a National Gambling Exclusion Register.

For operators, the message is straightforward: the era of light-touch oversight is ending. Sportsbooks that want a long-term future in the Irish market are investing in compliance, safer-gambling tools and identity verification, while bettors are being encouraged to check an operator’s licence position before depositing. Brands that appear on the Revenue Commissioners register, and in time on the GRAI’s own register, offer dispute-resolution and self-exclusion protections that offshore operators cannot match.

What separates the best betting sites in Ireland this year

Irish bettors have priorities that set the market apart from its British neighbour. GAA coverage is the clearest test: the sportsbooks earning strong reviews in 2026 price the All-Ireland championships well beyond the match result, into handicaps and scorer markets. The horse racing calendar, from Punchestown to the Galway Races, demands proper each-way terms and best-odds-style concessions, while football remains the biggest driver of turnover, with League of Ireland depth increasingly treated as a mark of an operator that takes the local market seriously.

The way people bet has shifted too. Most wagers are now placed on a phone, so app stability and mobile bet slips carry real commercial weight, and the credit card ban has pushed payments towards debit cards, Revolut and e-wallets. Free bets still headline most sign-up offers, but reviewers consistently advise that everyday odds value beats a one-off promotion over the course of a season. In short, the best betting sites Ireland has to offer in 2026 are winning on product quality rather than promotional noise.

Why the shake-up matters beyond the bookmakers

The Irish experience carries lessons well beyond gambling. The operators gaining ground are, notably, those that treated compliance as a product feature rather than a cost centre. That will sound familiar to UK business owners: a recent government survey on regulation found 96 per cent of firms believe regulators create unnecessary problems, yet in Ireland’s betting market clear rules appear to be rewarding the best-prepared companies rather than holding them back.

Advertising and affiliate marketing are adjusting in parallel. The GRAI has signalled tighter restrictions on gambling promotion, including a broadcast watershed, and comparison publishers are responding with more prominent licence disclosures and responsible gambling signposting. With licensing costs likely to thin the field, analysts expect some consolidation among smaller brands, leaving a market where competition is fought on odds, market depth and payout speed. For Irish bettors, the practical advice from reviewers is consistent: judge a sportsbook on its everyday product and its licence position, not the size of its welcome offer.

Shares of Hecla Mining Company rose Wednesday to $16.80, up 9.16%, extending gains following the company’s second-quarter results released Tuesday, which showed the largest silver producer in the United States and Canada achieving a debt-free balance sheet alongside record production at one of its key operations.

The Coeur d’Alene, Idaho-based miner reported cash flow from continuing operations up 61% year over year to $175 million, while free cash flow more than doubled from the prior year to $136 million, results the company described as reflecting the strongest balance sheet in its history.

Record Production at Lucky Friday

Hecla’s Lucky Friday mine set a new quarterly production record during the period, contributing to consolidated silver output from continuing operations that rose to 4.2 million ounces for the quarter. Greens Creek, the company’s flagship low-cost operation located near Juneau, Alaska, continued to deliver strong production, while the company’s Keno Hill operation in Canada’s Yukon territory posted its fourth consecutive quarter of positive free cash flow, a milestone the company said demonstrated the mine’s underlying profitability at current throughput rates and silver prices.

Despite the strong operational performance, Hecla’s overall revenue for the quarter came in at $334 million, representing an expected pullback from a record prior quarter, primarily reflecting lower realized silver and gold prices during the period. Income from continuing operations totaled $118 million, or 18 cents per share, down from $165 million, or 25 cents per share, in the first quarter, while adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations fell 25% sequentially to $199 million but remained more than double the $93 million posted in the same period a year earlier.

Debt-Free for the First Time in Years

A central highlight of Hecla’s results was the redemption of its remaining $263 million in 7.25% senior notes, a move that leaves the company debt-free, excluding financial leases, for the first time in its recent history. That redemption followed the earlier closing of the sale of Hecla’s Casa Berardi operation, which the company said sharpened its focus on its core silver business while also enabling the earlier redemption of a separate tranche of senior notes in April.

Hecla ended the quarter with a cash position of $483 million, alongside an undrawn $225 million revolving credit facility, giving the company substantial financial flexibility as it continues investing in its operating mines and exploration programs. The company also declared cash dividends on both its common and preferred stock, with a common stock dividend of $0.00375 per share payable to shareholders of record as of Aug. 26, alongside a larger preferred stock dividend tied to a mid-September record date.

Exploration Fuels Long-Term Optimism

Beyond its quarterly financial results, Hecla has continued reporting strong exploration and definition drilling results across several of its key properties, including extensions of high-grade mineralization at Keno Hill and the discovery of new high-grade veins at its Midas property. The company has said these results support its broader district-scale growth strategy, with additional drilling recently initiated at its Hollister property and further exploration planned at Aurora in the coming weeks.

Rob Krcmarov, Hecla’s president and chief executive officer, addressed the company’s strengthened financial position in a statement following the company’s first-quarter results earlier this year, saying the results demonstrated the strength of the platform Hecla has built, and specifically pointed to the Casa Berardi sale and subsequent debt redemption as leaving the company with the strongest balance sheet in its recent history.

A Cautious Note From Analysts

Not all analyst commentary surrounding Hecla has been uniformly bullish. Scotiabank recently trimmed its price target on the stock to $21 from $25, citing more cautious expectations for gold prices heading into 2027, even as the firm maintained a relatively more constructive stance on the outlook for silver pricing specifically. A separate non-binding memorandum of understanding with NVRO Metals, under which Hecla would process 35,000 tonnes of tailings, drew a modest premarket pullback in the stock at the time of its announcement, reflecting some investor concern about execution risk associated with the arrangement despite its potential long-term strategic upside.

Guidance for the Remainder of the Year

For the full year 2026, Hecla has maintained its consolidated silver production guidance in a range of 15.1 million to 16.5 million ounces, alongside consolidated gold production guidance of 65,000 to 72,000 ounces. The company’s shares had traded down as much as 20.9% year to date prior to this week’s rally, reflecting a period of broader caution across the metals sector even as the company’s underlying operational and financial performance has continued to strengthen.

With its balance sheet now debt-free and cash reserves continuing to build, Hecla’s near-term focus is expected to center on the completion of its surface cooling project at Lucky Friday, tracking toward completion by mid-2026, along with continued ramp-up efforts at Keno Hill following recent weather-related production disruptions tied to reduced power availability in the Yukon.