Humming Bird Education Ltd Management Discussions

MANAGEMENT DISCUSSION & ANALYSIS

A. Industry structure and developments:

The Indian education sector is witnessing a fundamental shift in the way learning outcomes are understood and evaluated. Academic achievement continues to remain important; however, there is an increasing emphasis on conceptual understanding, application of knowledge, analytical thinking, reasoning, problem-solving, creativity and broader competencies that prepare students for a rapidly evolving world.

This transformation is gradually redefining the role of assessments. Assessments are increasingly expected to do more than measure performance at a particular point in time. When appropriately designed, they can help identify strengths, reveal areas requiring improvement, encourage deeper learning and provide students, parents and educational institutions with meaningful insights into a learners academic and skill development.

Within this evolving environment, Olympiads occupy a distinctive position. They provide students an opportunity to go beyond routine classroom examinations and test their understanding against broader academic and competency- based parameters. The Company believes that the future of Olympiads lies in evolving them from primarily competitive examinations into structured learning and skill-assessment programmes that contribute meaningfully to the development of every participating student.

Humming Bird Education Limited has accordingly continued to strengthen its core Olympiad ecosystem. The Companys approach increasingly integrates the examination with preparatory learning resources, video-based learning support, mock and practice assessments, experiential learning material, performance analysis and recognition of achievement. The objective is to ensure that participation itself creates educational value and that an Olympiad becomes a journey of preparation, assessment, understanding and improvement rather than merely an exercise in ranking students.

The increasing penetration of technology in schools and households has further expanded the possibilities available to the assessment industry. Digital preparation, personalised student dashboards, online practice, performance analytics and technology-assisted examination management can make quality learning and assessment opportunities more accessible while improving scalability, consistency and learner engagement.

The Companys presence across a wide network of schools and its experience in conducting Olympiads across multiple subjects and academic levels provide an established platform from which it can continue to deepen its engagement with educational institutions. The focus is increasingly on creating an ecosystem in which learning, assessment, feedback and recognition reinforce each other.

The Olympiad sector in India presently does not operate under a dedicated sector-specific regulatory framework. The Company, however, considers the increasing emphasis of the Government of India on quality assurance, standardisation and institutional recognition within the broader skills and assessment ecosystem to be an important development. The emergence of formal mechanisms for recognising qualified organisations and establishing quality standards can contribute towards greater credibility, consistency and educational relevance in the assessment ecosystem.

With this larger purpose, the Company has established a 100% subsidiary Section 8 Company, Olympiad Council for Skills & Education (OCSE). Through OCSE, an application has been made for recognition under the relevant framework. The initiative reflects the Companys long-term commitment towards contributing to an ecosystem in which Olympiads and skill assessments become more structured, credible, meaningful and aligned with recognised quality standards.

The Company believes that the next phase of development within the sector will increasingly favour organisations capable of combining academic integrity, institutional credibility, technology, scale, meaningful assessment and measurable educational value. Humming Bird Education Limited intends to remain at the forefront of this transition while continuing to strengthen the trust developed with schools, educators, parents and students.

B. Opportunity and Threats:

Opportunities:

Expansion and Deepening of the Olympiad Ecosystem:

Olympiads remain the Companys principal area of expertise and present significant opportunities for sustained expansion. Indias large student population, growing awareness of competitive and competency-based assessments and increasing focus on application-oriented education provide a substantial addressable market.

The opportunity for the Company is not limited merely to increasing the number of examinations conducted. The larger opportunity lies in strengthening the educational depth associated with every participation by connecting preparation, practice, assessment, performance analysis and recognition into one coherent learner journey.

By continuously improving question quality, subject coverage, assessment methodology and student experience, the Company intends to make its Olympiads increasingly relevant to schools and learners while expanding its reach within India and internationally.

Skill-Based and Future-Ready Assessments:

The changing nature of education creates significant opportunities for assessments that evaluate capabilities beyond memory and conventional academic recall. Reasoning, adaptability, communication, creativity, problem-solving and application of concepts are becoming increasingly important in preparing students for higher education, employment and life.

The Company sees an important opportunity in continuously strengthening the skill orientation of its existing Olympiad portfolio so that assessments provide a broader indication of learner capability while remaining academically relevant and age appropriate.

This approach can enhance the educational usefulness of Olympiads for students while also providing parents, teachers and schools with better insights into the students learning journey.

Expansion into Foundational and Early Learning:

Foundational education is increasingly recognised as one of the most important stages of a childs learning journey. There is significant opportunity to introduce younger learners to thoughtfully designed, age-appropriate assessments that encourage observation, curiosity, numeracy, language development, environmental awareness and logical thinking without creating unnecessary examination pressure.

The Companys initiatives for younger learners provide an opportunity to extend the benefits of structured learning and assessment to the foundational stage while creating long-term engagement with students and schools from the beginning of their academic journey.

The emphasis in this segment will remain on engagement, discovery and joyful learning, with assessment serving as a means of understanding and encouraging the learner rather than merely comparing performance.

Digital Preparation and Practice:

Technology has substantially expanded the manner in which students can prepare for assessments. Digital video resources, practice questions, mock examinations and personalised dashboards allow learners to prepare at their own pace and gain greater familiarity with the assessment process.

The Company sees significant potential in further strengthening the digital layer associated with its Olympiads. By providing preparation and practice alongside the examination, the Company can increase the educational value generated for every participating student and build a more continuous relationship with learners.

Digital delivery also provides opportunities for increased geographical reach without a corresponding increase in physical infrastructure.

Experiential Learning Books and Academic Resources:

The Companys educational books, including experiential learning workbooks and previous-year solved papers, represent an important complementary opportunity to its assessment business.

Well-designed preparation material can help students understand concepts more deeply, practise application-based questions and become comfortable with higher-order thinking. The integration of books with Olympiads creates a natural academic continuum between learning, preparation and assessment.

The Company intends to continue strengthening the quality, relevance and reach of its educational publishing portfolio while aligning the content with changing assessment patterns and competency-oriented learning.

Institutional Collaborations and Strategic Partnerships:

The Companys longstanding engagement with schools and educational institutions creates opportunities for meaningful collaborations with institutions that share its objective of strengthening learning and assessment outcomes.

Institutional partnerships can enable specialised Olympiads, collaborative educational initiatives, subject-focused programmes and larger student engagement platforms. Such collaborations can also contribute towards enhancing credibility, expanding reach and introducing students to specialised fields of knowledge and skills.

The Company intends to pursue partnerships selectively, with emphasis on educational relevance, institutional credibility and measurable value to participating students.

White-Labelled and Customised Assessment Solutions:

The Companys experience in examination design, content creation, assessment administration and technology provides opportunities to offer customised Olympiads and assessment solutions to institutions requiring programmes aligned to their specific objectives.

Such solutions can enable the Company to leverage its existing academic and operational capabilities beyond its proprietary Olympiad portfolio, while maintaining appropriate quality and assessment standards.

Recognition and Standardisation of the Assessment Ecosystem:

The evolving emphasis on quality standards and institutional recognition within the countrys broader skills and assessment framework may create an important long-term opportunity.

The Company believes that credible recognition frameworks can help distinguish organisations that invest seriously in assessment quality, governance and meaningful learner outcomes. Its initiative through Olympiad Council for Skills & Education reflects the Companys intention to participate constructively in this evolving environment.

Over the longer term, greater quality orientation and standardisation can potentially expand the relevance of Olympiads from competitive academic activities towards more meaningful instruments of skill identification and student development.

Threats:

Increased Competition:

The Olympiad and supplementary education market remains highly competitive, with several organisations competing for participation from the same universe of schools and students. The increasing availability of digital educational products has further reduced traditional barriers to entry.

The Company recognises that sustainable differentiation cannot depend solely upon price or examination reach. Continuous improvement in academic quality, credibility, student experience, technology, institutional relationships and educational outcomes will be essential for maintaining and strengthening its position.

Changes in Educational Priorities and Policy:

School education continues to evolve in response to changes in curriculum, pedagogy, assessment frameworks and national educational priorities. Any significant change in the manner in which supplementary assessments are perceived or implemented could influence demand.

The Company intends to remain closely aligned with developments in the educational environment and continue adapting its assessments and learning resources to remain relevant to students and educational institutions.

Technology and Cybersecurity Risks:

The increasing use of technology brings opportunities as well as risks relating to data security, system availability, cybersecurity, technology obsolescence and dependence on digital infrastructure.

As more elements of the learner journey become technology enabled, the Company will need to continuously strengthen its systems, processes, safeguards and technology architecture to ensure reliability and appropriate protection of information.

Content Quality and Academic Relevance:

Assessment organisations depend heavily upon the accuracy, fairness and educational relevance of their content. Errors, inappropriate difficulty levels or lack of alignment with evolving learning objectives may affect student experience and institutional confidence.

The Company therefore considers robust academic review and quality assurance to be critical to its operations and intends to continually strengthen processes for content creation, verification and assessment design.

C. Segment-wise or product-wise performance:

Olympiads:

Olympiads continue to constitute the Companys core business and principal educational offering. The Company offers subject-based assessments across major areas of learning, with an increasing focus on competency, reasoning, conceptual clarity, application and higher-order thinking.

The strategic direction of this segment is to make the Olympiad experience progressively more comprehensive. Registration and examination are being supported by learning resources, preparation, practice opportunities, performance insights and recognition so that the value delivered to a student extends substantially beyond the examination day.

The Company continues to focus on strengthening participation through schools while also creating accessible avenues for individual learners. Its established institutional network provides a strong foundation for expanding the reach and depth of the Olympiad programme.

Skill-Based Assessment Initiatives:

The Company is progressively strengthening the skill-based orientation of its assessments. The objective is to ensure that questions do not merely reward memorisation but increasingly evaluate a students ability to understand, reason, interpret and apply concepts.

This represents an important progression in the Companys assessment philosophy—from identifying examination performance towards providing greater insight into learner capability and readiness.

The Companys future development in this segment will remain focused on making assessments more relevant to the capabilities students will require in an evolving educational and professional environment.

Foundational and Early Learning Olympiads:

The Companys initiatives for Nursery, Junior KG and Senior KG enable it to extend structured learning and assessment to the foundational years.

The programme is designed around the developmental needs of young learners, with emphasis on age-appropriate, engaging and visually supported assessment rather than conventional examination methodology.

This segment provides the Company with an opportunity to create meaningful engagement with students and schools at an early stage while extending its assessment expertise across a broader learner lifecycle.

Books and Learning Resources:

Educational publishing continues to complement the Companys core Olympiad activities. Experiential learning workbooks and solved previous-year examination resources enable students to prepare systematically while developing greater familiarity with application-oriented assessment.

The Companys objective is to ensure that its books are not limited to examination preparation but contribute to conceptual understanding, practice and skill development. The integration of academic resources with the Olympiad programme strengthens the Companys ability to support a learner before, during and after assessment.

Digital Learning, Training and Practice:

The digital component of the Companys Olympiad ecosystem enables students to access learning support, video- based preparation, mock assessments and practice opportunities.

This segment strengthens the value proposition of the core assessment programme by helping students prepare with greater confidence and allowing learning support to reach students irrespective of geography.

The Company intends to progressively enhance the digital experience with the objective of creating a seamless journey from learning to practice, assessment and performance improvement.

Strategic and Institutional Assessment Initiatives:

The Companys experience in conducting assessments and its relationships within the educational ecosystem provide a platform for specialised programmes and institutional collaborations.

Such initiatives allow the Company to apply its capabilities in content, assessment, student engagement and programme administration to projects designed around specific academic or skill-development objectives.

The Company intends to remain selective in pursuing such opportunities and will prioritise initiatives that strengthen its core educational purpose and institutional credibility.

Technology-Enabled Education Solutions:

Technology remains an enabling capability supporting the Companys education and assessment activities. The Companys broader ecosystem includes education technology and software capabilities that can support institutional processes, assessment administration and educational delivery.

The continued development of technology-enabled solutions is expected to improve scalability, operational efficiency and the experience offered to schools and learners while complementing the Companys core education business.

D. Outlook:

The long-term outlook for Indias education and assessment sector remains encouraging. India has one of the worlds largest school-going populations, while the countrys educational priorities are increasingly moving towards competency, skills, application, experiential learning and measurable outcomes.

This evolution closely complements the Companys core capabilities.

Humming Bird Education Limited intends to build upon its established position in Olympiads while progressively strengthening the educational ecosystem surrounding those assessments. The Companys ambition is not merely to conduct a larger number of examinations but to make every examination more meaningful to the learner.

The next phase of growth is expected to be centred around strengthening the Companys core Olympiad portfolio, widening its institutional reach, expanding participation across academic stages, enhancing books and experiential learning resources, providing stronger digital preparation and practice and continuously improving the quality and depth of assessment.

A central theme of the Companys future direction will be the transition from assessment as an event to assessment as a developmental journey.

The Company believes that an effective Olympiad should help a student prepare, think, participate, understand performance, identify strengths and areas for improvement and return to learning with greater confidence. Building this complete learner journey represents a significant opportunity for both educational impact and sustainable business growth.

The Company also believes that the broader movement towards quality assurance and institutional recognition within the skills and assessment ecosystem represents a noteworthy long-term development. Through its 100% subsidiary Section 8 Company, Olympiad Council for Skills & Education, the Company has applied for recognition under the relevant framework.

The Companys objective is to contribute towards making Olympiads and skill-based assessments increasingly credible, structured, standard-oriented and meaningful for students, schools and other stakeholders.

Technology will continue to serve as an important enabler of this strategy. Digital preparation, practice, analytics, student dashboards, scalable assessment administration and appropriate use of emerging technologies can significantly increase both the reach and effectiveness of the Companys programmes.

At the same time, management remains conscious that technology alone cannot create educational value. The Companys future growth will continue to be anchored in quality content, fair assessment, institutional trust, educational purpose and measurable benefit to the learner.

With its operating experience, established school relationships, specialised focus on Olympiads and assessments, educational content capabilities and evolving digital ecosystem, the Company believes that it is well positioned to participate meaningfully in the next phase of Indias education journey.

The Companys long-term aspiration is to establish Humming Bird as a trusted benchmark for skill-based Olympiads and meaningful student assessments, while progressively extending its reach to a substantially larger community of learners in India and internationally.

E. Risks and concerns:

Market Competition:

The market for Olympiads, assessments and supplementary educational products remains competitive. Existing organisations, emerging education platforms and technology-based learning providers may compete for the attention of schools, students and parents.

The Company seeks to mitigate this risk by continuously strengthening academic quality, learner value, school relationships, technology and the overall experience surrounding its Olympiads.

Dependence on School and Student Participation:

A significant portion of the Companys business is linked to participation from schools and students. Changes in school calendars, examination schedules, institutional priorities or participation preferences may affect business volumes.

The Company seeks to mitigate this risk by maintaining close engagement with educational institutions, broadening access to its programmes and improving the value proposition offered to schools and learners.

Academic and Content Risk:

The credibility of an assessment organisation is substantially dependent upon the quality, accuracy, fairness and relevance of its academic content.

The Company recognises that any weakness in question quality or assessment methodology could affect stakeholder confidence. Academic review, content verification, appropriate difficulty calibration and continuous improvement therefore remain important operational priorities.

Technology and Information Security Risk:

The Companys increasing utilisation of digital platforms exposes it to risks associated with cybersecurity, data protection, system downtime, technology failure and technological obsolescence.

The Company intends to continue strengthening its technology infrastructure, information-security practices, system reliability and business-continuity arrangements as its digital operations expand.

Regulatory and Policy Risk:

Although the Olympiad sector presently does not operate under a dedicated sector-specific regulatory framework, developments relating to education, assessments, skilling, institutional recognition, data protection or digital services may result in new requirements or standards.

The Company views stronger quality standards positively and intends to remain attentive to applicable developments while maintaining appropriate compliance and governance practices.

Operational and Execution Risk:

Expansion in student participation, subjects, learning resources, digital services and institutional programmes requires effective coordination across academic, technology, logistics, customer service and administrative functions.

The Company recognises that growth must be supported by appropriate processes, people, controls and technology to maintain consistent standards at scale.

Economic Risk:

Changes in macroeconomic conditions, disposable household income, inflation and institutional spending may affect expenditure on supplementary educational programmes.

The Company seeks to address these risks by maintaining accessibility, operational discipline and a broad educational value proposition while continuing to focus on sustainable rather than purely volume-driven growth.

F. Internal Control Systems and their Adequacy:

The Company has established internal control systems and procedures commensurate with the nature and scale of its operations. These controls are designed to support efficient business operations, safeguarding of assets, reliability of financial reporting, compliance with applicable laws and responsible management of operational risks.

The finance, audit, administration and information technology functions of the Company are supported by personnel responsible for ensuring adherence to established processes and statutory requirements.

The Company has constituted an Audit Committee in accordance with applicable requirements. The Committee provides oversight in relation to financial reporting, audit, internal controls and other matters falling within its scope and assists the Board in maintaining appropriate standards of governance and accountability.

Given the specialised nature of the Companys education and assessment business, internal controls extend beyond financial processes. Academic integrity and content quality are fundamental to the Companys credibility. Accordingly, the Company places significant emphasis on processes relating to question development, academic review, verification, examination administration, result processing and quality assurance.

The Company continues to focus on ensuring that the educational content and assessments offered to students are accurate, relevant, age appropriate and consistent with the intended learning and skill-assessment objectives.

As the Companys operations become increasingly technology enabled, information technology controls are also assuming greater importance. The Company continues to strengthen systems relating to data management, access controls, information security, system availability and technology-supported operational processes.

Internal control systems are reviewed and strengthened from time to time to reflect changes in the Companys scale, technology, operating environment and business requirements.

The management believes that strong governance, academic integrity, financial discipline, technological reliability and transparent processes are essential foundations for sustainable growth and will continue to accord high priority to these areas as the Company expands its educational reach.

G. Financial and Operational Performance:

PARTICULARS	STANDALONE 2025-26	STANDALONE 2024-25	CONSOLIDATED 2025-26	CONSOLIDATED 2024-25
Revenue from operations (Net)	63219301	53949128	79413629	62876589
Other Income	2903077	2018957	5815847	5392731
Total Income	66122378	55968085	85229476	68269321
Total Expenditure	64266881	52165908	76242182	59733235
Operating Profit	2715773	4089333	10144595	9023650
Less: Finance Charges	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
Cash Profit/Loss	2715773	4089333	10144595	9023650
Less: Depreciation	860276	287156	1157302	487564
Profit before exceptional items, tax and share of (profit)/loss in associates	1855497	3802177	8987294	8536086
Exceptional items	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
Tax Expense/(lncome)	-1050009	184927	813651	1354264
Net profit/(loss) aftertax and before share of (profit)/loss in Associates	2905505	3617250	8173644	7181822
Share of profit/(loss) in associates	-	-	5477186	5485179
Net profit/(loss) after tax for the year	2905505	3617250	5477186	5485179
Earnings per equity share	0.47	0.59	0.89	0.89
Basics diluted (INR) for continuing operations	0.47	0.59	0.89	0.89

For financial and product-wise performance concerning operational performance, please refer to the ‘Financial Results and ‘Operational Performance section of the Boards Report.

H. Material Development in Human Resources:

The efforts for development of human resources have been continued with greater emphasis on training and development programs. The company enjoyed healthy and cordial relations with the employees of the company. A detailed performance evaluation system is in place and remuneration and rewards are strongly liked to performance indicators.

The company has laid down various plans to attract and retain skill manpower at all levels. Your directors place on record their sincere appreciation in respect of the services rendered by the employees of the company at all levels.

I. Details of Significant changes in Key financial Ratios:

S. NO.	PARTICULARS	31.03.2026	31.03.2025	FORMULA ADOPTED
1.	Debtors Turnover Ratio (Days)	6.31	1.52	365 Days/(Net Revenue/Average Trade Receivables)
2.	Inventory Turnover Ratio (Days)	13.96	24.34	365 Days/(Net Revenue/Average Inventories)
3.	Interest Coverage Ratio	NA	NA	(Profit before Tax +lnterest)/lnterest + Interest Capitalized)
4.	Current Ratio	7.20	2.65	Current Assets/(Total Current Liabilities - Security Deposits payable on demand- Current maturities of Long Term Debt)
5.	Debt-equity Ratio	NA	NA	Total Debt/Total Equity
6.	Operating Profit	0.04	0.08	EBITDA/Revenue from Operations

Cautionary Statements

The report may contain forward looking statements which may identified by their use of words like ‘plans, ‘expects, ‘will, ‘anticipates, ‘believes, ‘intends, ‘projects, ‘estimates, or other words of similar meaning. All statements that address expectations and projections about the future, including but not limited to statements about the companys strategy for growth, product development, market position, expenditures and financial results, are forward looking statements. Forward looking statements are based on certain assumptions and expectations of future events. The company assumes no responsibility to publicly amend, modify or revise any forward looking statements, on the basis of any subsequent developments, information or events. Actual results could differ materially from those express or implied.