By Sethuraman N R and Hritam Mukherjee
(Reuters) -India’s Larsen and Toubro (L&T) on Thursday said it is targeting higher core margins for the current fiscal year on the back of a strong order book, after reporting a fourth-quarter profit above the analysts’ estimate.
The infrastructure major said the fiscal 2026 revenue growth is expected to be about 15%, compared with a 16% rise in 2025, while the order book would increase over 10%.
International projects have increasingly contributed to L&T’s orders and revenues in the past few quarters, despite being seen as a bellwether for the domestic infrastructure sector.
“There is a momentum in the international market that at the moment is playing out and … given the various types of programs that have been launched, (the momentum) will continue,” Chief Financial Officer C Shankar Raman said in a post-earnings call.
International orders, primarily from the Middle East but also the U.S., Europe and Africa, made up 70% of total orders in the reported quarter, compared to 35% a year ago.
“Looking at the prospects for FY26 from the context of order inflow, the pipeline looks quite encouraging, both for domestic as well as for international business,” Raman said.
L&T is targeting FY26 core margins at 8.5% compared with 8.3% it achieved last year.
Consolidated net profit after tax topped the analysts’ estimate at 54.97 billion rupees ($643.01 million) for January-March, while revenue grew 11%, helped by improved execution of overseas projects. ($1 = 85.4890 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Sethuraman N R and Hritam Mukherjee in Bengaluru, additional reporting by Meenakshi Maidas; Editing by Eileen Soreng and Vijay Kishore)
