L&T wins record Rs 1.48 lakh crore orders; quarterly profit rises 33%

Larsen & Toubro (L&T), India's largest engineering and construction company, reported a 33 per cent rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 5,202 crore for the July to September 2026 quarter, in results announced on Tuesday, October 27, 2026. Revenue from operations grew 16 per cent to Rs 78,750 crore from Rs 67,984 crore a year earlier. The company won a record Rs 1,47,665 crore of new orders in the quarter, 28 per cent more than a year ago, taking its consolidated order book to about Rs 8.5 lakh crore. Operating margins, however, narrowed, as lower margins across its businesses and a change in the mix of projects weighed on profitability. L&T's shares rose more than 4 per cent after the results, according to market reports.

L&T's results are watched as a barometer of investment in India and in the overseas markets where it builds projects. Its order book of about Rs 8.5 lakh crore is several times its annual revenue, which gives it years of work already in hand and makes its earnings more predictable than most companies'. A record quarter for new orders suggests that governments and companies are still committing large sums to infrastructure, energy, industrial plants and defence.

A large share of recent orders has come from abroad. Reports on the results give different figures for the international share, depending on whether they measure new orders or the overall order book, but both point to overseas work being a major driver.

The weak spot is profitability. EBITDA margin, which measures operating profit as a share of revenue, fell from 10 per cent to 8.7 per cent. Large engineering projects are often bid at tight prices, and costs can rise during execution, especially when commodity prices increase. When the mix shifts towards lower-margin work, such as some large international or infrastructure contracts, profits grow more slowly than revenue. The jump in net profit despite flat EBITDA indicates that other items below the operating line helped this quarter.

For India's economy, L&T's numbers carry a mixed message. Private and government capital spending remains strong enough to feed record orders, but reports indicate that new orders in its core domestic infrastructure segment declined in the quarter, suggesting overseas demand did much of the lifting.

Short-term: The record orders and profit growth lifted L&T's shares, while investors will watch whether margins recover in the second half of the year.

Long-term: An order book of about Rs 8.5 lakh crore secures years of revenue. The company's ability to execute these projects on budget will decide how much of that turns into profit.

Who is affected: L&T shareholders and employees, the thousands of suppliers and subcontractors that work on its projects, governments and companies commissioning infrastructure in India and abroad, and investors tracking India's capital spending cycle.

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