HFCL Q3 profit jumps 36% to Rs 97.6 crore on margin expansion

.

• HFCL Q3 net profit up 35.6% YoY to Rs 97.6 crore, boosted by margin growth
• Revenue rose 19.6% YoY to Rs 1,210.8 crore, driven by telecom and networking.
• HFCL secured $192 million export orders and expanded optical fibre capacity

Did our AI summary help?

Himachal Futuristic Communications Ltd (HFCL) reported a 35.6% year-on-year jump in net profit to Rs 97.6 crore in the December quarter, driven by margin expansion and improved operating leverage.

The company had posted a net profit of Rs 73.6 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. Revenue from operations rose 19.6% YoY to Rs 1,210.8 crore, compared with Rs 1,012 crore a year earlier, supported by steady execution across its telecom and networking businesses.

Operating performance strengthened materially during the quarter. EBITDA climbed 50% YoY to Rs 228.5 crore from Rs 152.5 crore in the year-ago period, while EBITDA margin expanded to 18.9% from 15%, reflecting tighter cost control and an improved product mix.

Mahendra Nahata, Managing Director, HFCL, said: “Q3 FY26 was a quarter of focused execution for HFCL. We expanded our export footprint, continued capacity build-up and advanced our defence portfolio, while consciously improving the quality and sustainability of our revenue mix. With a strong order book, improving industry dynamics, defence scale-up and growing global acceptance of our products, we remain confident of delivering sustainable growth, improving profitability and long-term value creation.”

During the quarter, HFCL secured multiple export orders aggregating approximately $192 million for optical fibre cables. The global optical fibre industry has witnessed a revival in demand following inventory normalisation and higher investments by hyperscalers, telecom operators and enterprises, driven by data centre expansion, cloud infrastructure and AI-led workloads.

On the capacity front, optical fibre capacity increased to around 28 million fibre-kilometres from 14 million fkm earlier, with expansion plans targeting 33.9 million fkm by December 2026. Optical fibre cable capacity reached 30.5 million fibre-kilometres, with plans to scale up to 42.3 million fibre-kilometres by June 2026.

HFCL also continued to scale its defence business in line with India’s indigenisation push. The company secured multiple contracts across radars, electronic fuses and electro-optic systems, including thermal weapon sights. It entered the UAV night-vision camera segment with an indigenised thermal camera and won an order from a leading Indian UAV manufacturer. Its drone detection radar systems progressed through successful static validation trials, while electronic fuses developed by the company underwent firing trials in January 2026, with further testing expected in the coming months. The defence segment is expected to meaningfully support operating performance as volumes scale and serial production commences.