May 8 (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
Source: Reuters