IT Consultants financial analysis: Q-Cash fees 80% of revenue, FY26 EPS down 14%, tower capex (Oct 2026)

Investment considerations: a 52%-gross-margin fee business whose FY2026 EPS fell 14% while debt funds a tower

IT Consultants PLC (ITC) runs Q-Cash, a shared switching network that connects banks' ATMs, point-of-sale (POS) terminals, cards and online channels. It holds a Bangladesh Bank Payment System Operator (PSO) licence since 9-Sep-2014, is connected to the National Payment Switch Bangladesh (NPSB), VISA, Mastercard and UnionPay, and lists 36 member banks, access to more than 13,000 ATMs and more than 120,000 POS terminals [1 p.24] [1 p.26]. The company describes Q-Cash as Bangladesh's largest payment platform [1 p.26]; we have no independent market-share data to test that claim. The listed company has no subsidiaries, so every figure in this note is the company's own (standalone) statement.

The decade's change is a move from selling hardware to charging fees. In FY2020, sales of ATMs and POS terminals were BDT 498m, 38% of revenue; by FY2025 they were BDT 42m and Q-Cash transaction processing charges were BDT 1,247m [6 p.131] [1 p.142]. Revenue grew from BDT 1,320m to BDT 1,564m over those five years, but profit after tax rose from BDT 149m to BDT 465m because fee income carries a much higher margin than resold hardware [1 p.33] [20]. FY2026 broke that run: the board reported EPS of BDT 3.11 against BDT 3.62 and cut the cash dividend to 10% from 12% [10], and TBS reported the company's explanation that financial constraints at several member banks reduced transaction volumes [12].

Business model: a licensed payment switch that now earns 97% of revenue from recurring fees

How ITC makes money. Member banks pay ITC to issue and renew their cards, to switch ATM and POS transactions, and for software and support. In FY2025 the Q-Cash transaction processing line of BDT 1,247m had five parts: card charges of BDT 527.5m (card issuance and renewal BDT 303.3m plus ATM and NPS software support), transaction charges of BDT 547.6m, VISA connectivity of BDT 39.5m, the A2P SMS aggregator project of BDT 35.8m, and software support [1 p.142]. Within transaction charges, POS transactions earned BDT 205.8m, ATM transactions BDT 143.7m, bKash e-money transactions BDT 91.2m, OTP messages BDT 46.4m and internet-banking fund transfers BDT 25.0m [1 p.142].

Service and maintenance charges (BDT 275.9m) are mainly switching-software service charges of BDT 157.7m, which rose 44%, and ATM software maintenance of BDT 66.5m, which fell 26% [1 p.142]. A one-off government line, IT support for the My Gov platform (BDT 39.9m in FY2024), did not recur in FY2025 [1 p.142]. Sales revenue is now only POS terminals, BDT 41.7m [1 p.142]. ITC also built and runs the e-traffic prosecution system for the Dhaka, Chattogram and Rajshahi metropolitan police and the NBR-Sonali Bank e-tax payment service [1 p.24] [1 p.26]; the revenue note does not separate government revenue, so we cannot measure government concentration.

Who owns it. SiS Capital (Bangladesh) Pte Limited holds 32.77% and Regent Pacific Ltd 8.45%, both through nominated directors; managing director and sponsor Kazi Saifuddin Munir holds 4.51% and vice chairman Salahuddin Alamgir 5.36%. Sponsors and directors together hold 51.09% [1 p.86]. The chairman, Lim Kiah Meng, and three other directors are SiS Capital nominees [1 p.86]. Institutions held 19.55% at June 2025 and 14.15% at September 2026, with the public share rising from 29.35% to 34.56% [11].

History in brief. ITC was incorporated in August 2000, became a public company in 2008, received the PSO licence in September 2014, listed on DSE in December 2015 and began trading on 10-Jan-2016 [1 p.24]. It paid mainly stock dividends until FY2020 (15%, 4%, 10%, 7% and 5%), which took share capital from BDT 870m to BDT 1,286m, and has paid only cash since FY2021 [7 p.30] [1 p.33]. The company has 338 employees, 80% of them engineers and technicians [1 p.26].

Ratios: net margin rose from 11% to 30% in five years and ROE to 16%

Growth. Revenue moved between BDT 800m and BDT 1,340m in FY2016-FY2022 because hardware sales rose and fell with banks' ATM purchases; since FY2022 it has grown every year, by 18.2%, 14.0% and 14.5% [20]. Q-Cash fees grew in every year of FY2021-FY2025, at 15% to 40% a year [20]. The directors explain the FY2021 hardware decline by banks slowing ATM roll-outs and shifting to cash recyclers [6 p.71].

Margins. Gross margin was 30-45% while hardware made up a large part of sales, and has been 47-53% since FY2022 [20]. Net margin rose every year from 11.3% in FY2020 to 29.7% in FY2025 [20]. Part of the improvement is operating leverage: operating expenses were BDT 191-252m a year over FY2020-FY2025 while gross profit doubled [6 p.101] [1 p.115].

Returns. ROE on average equity rose from 6.6% in FY2017 to 16.4% in FY2025 [20]. Equity is large relative to profit because of BDT 295m of IPO share premium, a revaluation reserve and intangible assets carried at BDT 722m [1 p.114]. Intangibles were 24.1% of equity in FY2025, down from 47.4% in FY2018 [20].

Payout. Cash dividends have taken 32-41% of profit since FY2021 [20]. The FY2026 dividend of BDT 1.00 a share is 32% of the announced EPS of BDT 3.11 [10].

Line items: card and transaction fees drive revenue; license fees, salaries and tax exemption drive profit

Revenue drivers. Transaction fees depend on the number of cards and transactions at member banks. The FY2025 growth came from card charges (+BDT 27m), POS transactions (+BDT 19m), bKash e-money transactions (+BDT 30m) and OTP messages (+BDT 27m), while ATM transaction charges fell BDT 8m [1 p.142]. Management attributes growth to banks' greater use of real-time online transactions [1 p.45]. In FY2026 the company told DSE that service and maintenance and transaction revenue came under pressure as financial constraints at several member banks reduced volumes, as reported by TBS [12]. The quarterly statements do not break revenue down, so the split of the FY2026 fall is not yet known.

Cost of services. The FY2025 cost of services and sales was BDT 743.8m (+11.9%) [1 p.115]. Salaries in cost of services were BDT 219.5m, 14.0% of revenue [1 p.143]. The fastest-growing cost was the recurring license charge, BDT 112.7m to BDT 165.1m (+47%), 10.6% of revenue [1 p.143]; the note does not say whom it is paid to or in which currency, so its exposure to the taka cannot be measured from the filing. bKash pass-through charges rose to BDT 50.1m against bKash revenue of BDT 91.2m, a net take of BDT 41.1m [1 p.142] [1 p.143]. ATM spare parts fell from BDT 102.8m to BDT 14.1m after FY2024's inventory write-off [1 p.143] [4 p.79]. Depreciation and amortisation in cost of services rose from BDT 56.6m to BDT 77.2m as land and building assets came into use [1 p.143].

Operating expenses. General and administrative expenses were flat at BDT 176.0m; selling and distribution rose to BDT 67.8m, mainly plastic cards (BDT 22.5m against BDT 5.1m) [1 p.115] [1 p.145]. Admin expenses include BDT 37.4m of depreciation, of which BDT 25.8m is on leased premises and vehicles [1 p.144].

Finance cost and income. Finance costs rose from BDT 55.8m to BDT 80.6m in FY2025 as term loans for the tower rose to BDT 1,058m; interest on long-term loans in profit or loss was BDT 76.9m [1 p.145]. The loan note adds BDT 110.8m of 'interest and excise duty' to the loan in the year and interest paid in the cash flow was BDT 111.8m [1 p.138] [1 p.118]; the company's policy allows borrowing costs on qualifying assets to be added to their cost [1 p.124], but the note we read does not state the amount capitalised. In 9M FY2026 finance costs fell to BDT 29.5m from BDT 76.3m even though loans rose [2 p.3] [2 p.2]; the interim statements do not explain the change. Finance income rose to BDT 20.9m from FDR interest [1 p.145].

Tax. The company classes most of its income as ITES (IT-enabled services), which is exempt from income tax to 30-Jun-2027 under paragraph 21 of Part A of the 6th schedule of the Income Tax Act 2023 [4 p.108]. In FY2025, BDT 450.1m of profit was non-taxable and BDT 33.9m taxable; tax was BDT 19.9m, including BDT 15.5m of minimum tax under section 163 and BDT 4.2m on bank interest [1 p.146]. At the 20% listed-company rate, tax on the exempt profit would have been about BDT 90m, 19.4% of FY2025 profit after tax [20]. This is arithmetic on FY2025 figures, not a forecast; how much income would be taxed after June 2027 depends on the law then in force.

FY2026: revenue stalled after Q1 and gross margin fell 7pp; EPS BDT 3.11 against 3.62

The FY2026 annual report is not yet filed. The board approved the audited statements on 11-Oct-2026 and DSE published EPS of BDT 3.11, NAV per share of BDT 25.16 and NOCFPS of BDT 3.61 [10]. Until the report is filed, this note uses the three quarterly statements and the DSE-announced figures, labelled as such; the model will be updated when the annual report is in our corpus.

Quarter by quarter. Q1 FY2026 revenue rose 15.0% to BDT 389m, but Q2 and Q3 fell 6.4% and 8.3% year on year [20]. Cost of services and sales for 9M rose to BDT 567.7m from BDT 486.5m, so gross profit fell to BDT 580.7m from BDT 670.9m [2 p.3]. Operating profit for 9M was BDT 384.4m against BDT 483.4m; lower finance costs (BDT 29.5m vs 76.3m) and higher finance income cushioned profit, which fell 9.9% to BDT 347.4m [2 p.3]. Quarterly EPS derived from the statements is BDT 0.92, 0.86 and 0.92, matching DSE's announced figures, and the announced full-year EPS implies BDT 0.41 for Q4 against BDT 0.62 a year earlier [10] [20].

Where the cost rise came from. The 9M FY2026 statements do not include notes, so the BDT 81.2m (16.7%) rise in cost of services and sales cannot be split by line [2 p.3]. The FY2025 note shows which lines can move that much: the recurring license charge (BDT 165.1m), salaries (BDT 219.5m), depreciation and amortisation (BDT 77.2m) and the bKash pass-through charge (BDT 50.1m) together made up 69% of the FY2025 cost [1 p.143]. Depreciation should rise as tower assets move out of CWIP, but PPE grew only BDT 35m in the nine months while CWIP grew BDT 343m [2 p.2], so most of the tower was not yet being depreciated at March 2026. Intangible assets fell by BDT 70m in the nine months, more than the FY2025 amortisation pace, which is consistent with the revised amortisation rates adopted after the FY2025 impairment test [2 p.2] [1 p.81].

Seasonality warning. Q4 FY2025 had a gross margin of only 36.8%, derived as the full year less nine months, against 54-61% in the first three quarters [20]. The FY2025 notes do not explain the low Q4 margin. Q4 FY2026 profit, implied at about BDT 53m, will be explained only when the annual report is filed.

Balance sheet: CWIP of BDT 1.6bn and net debt of BDT 0.98bn; BDT 133m stuck in weak banks

The tower. In March 2023 the company announced a BDT 2.8bn plan for a 13-storey ITC Tower in Tejgaon with data centres, to be funded about 30% from own funds and the rest with bank term loans, subject to shareholder approval at an EGM [15]. Capital work-in-progress rose from nil in June 2022 to BDT 1,281.5m in June 2025, after BDT 620.8m of tower additions in FY2025 and BDT 572.5m in FY2024; BDT 440.4m of land was transferred to property, plant and equipment in FY2025 [5 p.114] [1 p.131]. The FY2025 tower payment of BDT 500m was an advance to M/S House of Sunshine Knitwear Ltd 'for the construction of ITC Tower, based on an agreement to complete the project' [1 p.131]. By March 2026 CWIP was BDT 1,624.8m [2 p.2]. The managing director wrote that construction was 'at the ending phase' and that a new data centre for domestic cloud hosting and switching services would follow [1 p.41]; no completion date is given.

Funding. Term loans rose from BDT 6.2m (June 2023) to BDT 1,057.8m (June 2025) and BDT 1,311.4m (March 2026), and the overdraft reached BDT 100.7m [5 p.114] [1 p.114] [2 p.2]. Net debt was BDT 980m, 0.31x equity [20]. Interest cover on reported operating profit and finance costs was 7.1x in FY2025 [20]. The auditor's key audit matter covered the carrying value of PPE and CWIP, 52% of total assets, and found no impairment indicators [1 p.109].

Cash in weak banks. The directors' report lists BDT 132.9m held on 21-Oct-2025 in seven banks that, it says, Bangladesh Bank has classified as problem banks, with restrictions on withdrawal: First Security Islami Bank, Social Islami Bank, Padma Bank, Bangladesh Commerce Bank, Union Bank, EXIM Bank and ICB Islami Bank [1 p.81]. For scale, that October 2025 figure equals 31% of the cash balance of BDT 432m at 30-Jun-2025; the two dates differ [1 p.114]. The company also holds BDT 136.5m in trust-cum-settlement accounts for its inward-remittance service at Sonali Bank and Trust Bank, which are used only for settlement [1 p.135].

Receivables and cash conversion. Receivables were BDT 343.3m at June 2025, 80 days of revenue, and BDT 394.3m at March 2026, 94 days on annualised 9M revenue [20]. The amount older than 365 days fell from BDT 116.6m to BDT 10.3m in FY2025, mostly because POS sales receivables fell from BDT 92.9m to BDT 5.4m [1 p.131] [1 p.132]. Operating cash flow was BDT 572.8m in FY2025 (1.23x profit) and BDT 337.6m in 9M FY2026 (0.97x) [20]. Capex of BDT 661m in FY2025 and BDT 499m in 9M FY2026 exceeded operating cash flow; in FY2025 the company drew BDT 536m of net term loans and paid BDT 143m of dividends [1 p.118] [2 p.6].

Peers: ITC's 30% net margin was the highest of three listed IT companies in FY2025

There is no other listed payment switch on DSE, so the comparison is with two listed IT-services companies, on their own FY2025 standalone statements, all June year-ends. Genex Infosys (contact centre and IT-enabled services) prints 'Net revenue' and 'Financial expenses' [8 p.142]; BDCOM Online (internet service provider) prints 'Revenue' and 'Financial Charges' [9 p.98]; ITC prints 'Revenue' and 'Finance costs' [1 p.115]. We compare only lines that each company prints with the same meaning: revenue, gross profit, finance costs, profit before tax, income tax and profit after tax. We do not compare operating profit, because Genex prints 'Profit before finance cost' before other income and BDCOM shows depreciation as a separate line [8 p.142] [9 p.98].

Among the three, ITC had the highest net margin (29.7% vs 14.3% and 6.3%) [20]. Its gross margin (52.5%) sat between Genex (47.0%) and BDCOM (55.0%); the gap to BDCOM is 2.5pp. Finance costs were 5.2% of revenue at ITC against 22.6% at Genex. Both ITC (ETR 3.9%) and Genex (1.6%) paid little tax, while BDCOM's ETR was 53.4% [20]; we have not reviewed BDCOM's tax note, so we do not explain its rate here.

Governance: past auditor concerns on intangibles, a Bangladesh Bank summons in October 2026, and SiS Capital as the largest holder

Audit history. The FY2025 report says that over FY2021-FY2024 the statutory auditors (ACNABIN, then Hussain Farhad & Co.) raised concerns about the company's treatment of intangible assets: useful lives of 5 to 40 years, compliance with IAS 38 and the lack of an IAS 36 impairment test; the company's own text says the treatment 'has been qualified' and that DSE queries persisted [1 p.81]. The FY2024 auditor's report we read gives an unmodified opinion with three emphasis-of-matter paragraphs: the 5-40 year amortisation lives, the valuation of high-tech inventory and the timing of card-renewal revenue [4 p.106]; DSE published the emphasis of matter on 27-Nov-2024 [10]. For FY2025 the company engaged Howladar Yunus & Co. (Grant Thornton) for an impairment test, revised amortisation rates and recognised an impairment of BDT 6.7m [1 p.81] [1 p.138]. The new auditor, Hoda Vasi Chowdhury & Co., gave an unmodified opinion for FY2025 with key audit matters on PPE/CWIP and inventories [1 p.108] [1 p.109].

Related parties. Three bank shareholders are also Q-Cash clients: Trust Bank (BDT 95.1m of transactions in FY2025), National Bank (BDT 46.1m) and Mercantile Bank (BDT 47.9m) [1 p.148]. Directors receive no remuneration other than BDT 5,000 a meeting for independent directors; key management compensation was BDT 99.8m [1 p.86] [1 p.148].

24 months of DSE news (31-Oct-2024 to 31-Oct-2026). The only board decision on new investment was the approval, published 12-Oct-2025, to invest up to 10% of the paid-up capital of a proposed City Bank subsidiary, City Credit Bureau PLC [10]; the Q3 FY2026 balance sheet shows BDT 30.0m invested [2 p.2]. Other notices were quarterly results, dividends, CRAB ratings of AA1/ST-2 (stable) in December 2024 and December 2025, and changes of company secretary in September 2026 [10]. City Credit Bureau is planned as a subsidiary of City Bank to provide credit-information services; ITC's stake is a minority equity holding, and the filings do not yet show any income from it or the size of the bureau's total capital. We found no DSE notice of a new capex approval for the tower in this window; the tower plan dates from March 2023 [15].

The October 2026 outage. Bangladesh Bank said on 6-Oct-2026 that card, ATM and NPSB-linked services at banks using Q-Cash were disrupted from about 9pm on 4-Oct-2026 by technology upgrading, system migration and maintenance, that it had summoned ITC's management and instructed it to restore services; TBS reported that services resumed at 10pm on 6-Oct-2026 [13]. In a rejoinder on 8-Oct-2026 ITC denied using Russian software or having a contract with a Russian company, said it relies on in-house software and technology from a UK-based company, and said there was no hacking or cyberattack [14]. The FY2025 accounts list Compass Plus (Great Britain) Ltd as a vendor, with BDT 50.4m payable at June 2024 and nil at June 2025 [1 p.139]. Any regulatory action after the summons is (passed), outcome unknown: we found no further Bangladesh Bank statement.

Press context. On 7-Oct-2026 TBS published a report that, based on information from ITC, said the software vendor Compass Plus had installed a disruptive script on ITC's servers after learning it was being replaced. On 9-Oct-2026 TBS apologised for publishing that allegation without asking Compass Plus for its response, and added that Compass Plus had issued a termination notice to ITC on 28-Aug-2026 citing alleged breaches of their agreement, and that ITC owes Compass Plus outstanding dues [16]. Neither the dues nor the termination appears in the filings we read, which end at 31-Mar-2026. The FY2026 annual report, due before the 13-Dec-2026 AGM, is the first filing that could disclose a provision, a contingent liability or a change of switching-software vendor; the cost of any migration would fall in cost of services or capex.

What's next: the FY2026 annual report before the 13-Dec-2026 AGM, the tower, and the June 2027 tax-exemption expiry

Items already disclosed that move the lines (direction only, no forecast). Past events are described in the text above.

Three items have no date in any source we found. First, completion of the ITC Tower and the new data centre: the managing director called the tower 'at the ending phase' [1 p.41]. When it is finished, CWIP moves to PPE and depreciation in cost of services rises; any rent or data-centre income would add to revenue. Second, the end of interest capitalisation, if any, on the tower loans would move interest from the balance sheet to finance costs. Third, any Bangladesh Bank action after the October summons [13] would affect transaction fees and costs.

LDC graduation. The UN General Assembly adopted Bangladesh's request on 29-Oct-2026 in New York (30-Oct-2026 in Dhaka) to move graduation from 24-Nov-2026 to 24-Nov-2029 [17] [18]. ITC sells domestically to banks, so the effect is indirect, through its clients' trade and remittance flows.

Risks: member-bank stress, the outage, the tower debt and the 2027 tax-exemption expiry

Each risk is tied to the line it moves; sensitivities are FY2025 arithmetic, not forecasts.

ITC at BDT 39.5 trades at 12.7x FY2026 EPS of BDT 3.11, 1.57x NAV of BDT 25.16 and a 2.5% cash yield [19] [10]. Year-end P/E on reported figures ranged from 9.8x (FY2025) to 54.5x (FY2016) [20]. These are facts about the price, not a view on it.

FAQ

What does IT Consultants PLC do?

It runs Q-Cash, a shared ATM, POS and card-processing network for 36 member banks, under a Bangladesh Bank PSO licence [1 p.26].

What was ITC's FY2026 EPS?

BDT 3.11 against BDT 3.62 in FY2025, with a 10% cash dividend (BDT 1.00 a share) [10].

Why does ITC pay so little tax?

Most of its profit is ITES income, exempt to 30-Jun-2027; FY2025 ETR was 3.9% [1 p.146] [4 p.108].

What is the ITC Tower?

A building and data-centre project in Tejgaon; capital work-in-progress was BDT 1,625m at 31-Mar-2026 [2 p.2] [15].

Who owns ITC?

Sponsors and directors hold 51.09%, including SiS Capital (Bangladesh) Pte Ltd with 32.77% [1 p.86] [11].

Which results does this note use?

Annual reports FY2016-FY2025, the H1 and 9M FY2026 statements, and the DSE-announced FY2026 figures; the FY2026 annual report is not yet in our corpus.

Sources

1. IT Consultants PLC Annual Report 2024-25 (year to 30-Jun-2025) · link · accessed 2026-10-31
2. IT Consultants PLC un-audited financial statements, nine months to 31-Mar-2026 (Q3 FY2026) · link · accessed 2026-10-31
3. IT Consultants PLC un-audited financial statements, six months to 31-Dec-2025 (Q2 FY2026) · link · accessed 2026-10-31
4. IT Consultants PLC Annual Report 2023-24 (year to 30-Jun-2024) · link · accessed 2026-10-31
5. Information Technology Consultants Limited Annual Report 2022-23 · link · accessed 2026-10-31
6. Information Technology Consultants Limited Annual Report 2020-21 · link · accessed 2026-10-31
7. Information Technology Consultants Limited Annual Report 2019-20 (five-year data FY2016-FY2020) · link · accessed 2026-10-31
8. Genex Infosys PLC Annual Report 2024-25, standalone statements · link · accessed 2026-10-31
9. BDCOM Online Ltd Annual Report 2024-25 · link · accessed 2026-10-31
10. DSE news archive, ITC, 31-Oct-2024 to 31-Oct-2026 (company disclosures: FY2026 EPS 3.11 and 10% cash dividend on 12-Oct-2026; quarterly results; City Credit Bureau investment; credit ratings) · link · accessed 2026-10-31
11. DSE company page, ITC (category, shareholding at 30-Sep-2026, 52-week range) · link · accessed 2026-10-31
12. The Business Standard, 'Q-Cash operator IT Consultants' profit drops 14% in FY26 amid lower transaction volumes' (12-Oct-2026) · link · accessed 2026-10-31
13. Bangladesh Bank press release of 6-Oct-2026 on the Q-Cash disruption, as reported by The Business Standard, 'Cenbank summons Q-Cash operator over disrupted services' (6-Oct-2026) · link · accessed 2026-10-31
14. IT Consultants PLC rejoinder, published by The Business Standard (8-Oct-2026) · link · accessed 2026-10-31
15. The Business Standard, 'IT Consultants to invest Tk280cr to enhance infrastructure' (11-Mar-2023) · link · accessed 2026-10-31
16. The Business Standard, editorial 'We apologise' (9-Oct-2026) · link · accessed 2026-10-31
17. The Daily Star, 'Bangladesh gets 3 more years for LDC graduation' (30-Oct-2026) · link · accessed 2026-10-31
18. The Business Standard, 'Bangladesh gets 3 more years for LDC graduation' (30-Oct-2026) · link · accessed 2026-10-31
19. AnalystBro price data (TradingView feed): DSE:ITC daily bars, 30-Oct-2025 to 29-Oct-2026 · link · accessed 2026-10-31
20. AnalystBro model for this report (workbook tabs below) · link · accessed 2026-10-31