L&T order inflows in Q3 surge to record ₹1.36 trillion, top expectations

Beating market expectations, Larsen & Toubro Ltd (L&T) posted its highest order inflows for any quarter in October-December 2025, as a revival in domestic private sector capital expenditure, alongside continued strength in international orders drove a surge in new project awards.

India’s largest engineering and construction firm secured fresh orders worth ₹1.36 trillion during the quarter, up 17% year-on-year (y-o-y), taking its total order book to a record ₹7.33 trillion at the end of Q3—the first time it has crossed the ₹7 trillion mark.

The market, which had expected about ₹90,000-1,00,000 crore order booking, was taken by surprise, according to Amit Anwani, VP and lead analyst for capital goods, industrials and defence, at brokerage PL Capital. “This growth is led by strong domestic business growth, which augurs well for coming quarters,” said Anwani.

“For the first time, the quarterly order inflow in our projects & manufacturing (P&M) portfolio has exceeded the ₹1 lakh crore ( ₹1 trillion) mark—a clear reflection of our capabilities and the inherent strength of our business model,” S.N. Subrahmanyan, L&T’s chairman and managing director, said in a media statement.

So far in fiscal year 2026 (FY26), the company has received orders worth ₹3.46 trillion, and is in a comfortable position to exceed its guidance for 10% growth in annual order inflow, R. Shankar Raman, L&T’s whole-time director and chief financial officer, said during a post-earnings media call on Wednesday. The company had received new business worth ₹3.57 trillion in FY25.

While order inflows were on the upside, L&T’s consolidated profit for the December quarter fell 4% y-o-y to ₹3,215 crore, weighed down by a one-time provision of ₹1,191 crore to comply with India’s new labour codes. Excluding that one-time provision, profit rose by a third y-o-y to ₹4,406 crore.

On the other hand, consolidated revenue during the quarter increased 10% y-o-y to ₹71,450 crore, while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) rose nearly a fifth to ₹7,417 crore. Ebitda margin expanded 71 basis points to 10.4%.

Unlike order bookings, revenue and Ebitda were below market estimates of ₹74,875 crore and ₹7,659 crore, respectively, as per the consensus of four brokerages compiled by Mint. The consensus profit estimate was ₹4,346 crore.

For the first nine months of FY26, revenue was up 12% at ₹2.03 trillion. The company has maintained its 15% revenue growth guidance for the fiscal.

Where the orders came from

The fresh order flow was led by the firm’s mainstay infrastructure segment, which received orders ₹61,876 crore, over 25% higher than the same quarter last year. This was due to strong inflows from both domestic and international businesses, with the orders split 55:45 in favour of the overseas business.

About three-fifths of the domestic infrastructure orders were from the private sector, Shankar Raman said. These orders were from on-shore oil and gas business, the power sector, as well as orders for new factories, among other things, he said.

“Looking ahead, we remain optimistic that pro-growth momentum will be maintained in the ecosystem through sustained capital expenditure,” Subrahmanyan said in the statement. “We expect additional policy thrust to strengthen domestic manufacturing and fiscal incentives to support the deepening of India’s digital and AI ecosystem.”

Anwani of PL Capital said L&T has slowed down its water infrastructure business due to poor economics, which resulted in infrastructure revenue growing just 5%. “Despite this, the company has maintained its guidance of 15% revenue growth for FY26,” he added.

The company’s prospect pipeline—open tenders for which the company would consider bidding—was at ₹5.96 trillion at the end of the quarter. Earlier, Kuwait, one of the company's key overseas markets, scrapped $10 billion worth of oil and gas tenders, for many of which L&T had emerged as the lowest bidder. The middle eastern country cited a budget shortfall.

To be sure, this doesn’t count as lost business for L&T as these projects were not part of its order book yet, but it means that the prospects for the company have narrowed.

L&T’s stock gained a marginal 0.1% to close at ₹3,793.65 on the BSE on Wednesday. The earnings were made public post trading hours.

The scrip has lost over 8% since the beginning of 2026 compared to just over a 3% dip in the benchmark Sensex, of which L&T is a constituent.