ABB India’s order book swells 17% as capex bet deepens; margin pressure clouds Q1 profit

ABB India posted a strong start to CY2026, with orders rising 25% year-on-year to ₹4,280 crore and order backlog climbing 17% to ₹11,094 crore, giving the company solid revenue visibility for the coming quarters. Revenue increased 5.8% to ₹3,184 crore, but operating performance was less impressive, with EBITDA falling 27% to ₹408.34 crore and margin narrowing to 12.82% from 18.59% a year earlier.

Orders outpace profits

The clear positive in the quarter was the pace of order inflows. ABB said Electrification and Motion delivered strong growth, helped by sustained industrial activity in India, while demand from data centres, renewables and metro rail supported new wins. The company said its backlog remained “strong and executable,” a point that matters because it stresses revenue conversion beyond this quarter.

The order mix also tells an important story. ABB highlighted low-tension panels, e-houses, propulsion systems, gas-insulated switchgears and smart power products among the quarter’s key wins, pointing to a broadening opportunity set across core and emerging industries. Management said the business continues to benefit from resilient domestic demand and government-led investment momentum, especially in infrastructure, rail, grid modernization, renewables and data centres.

Margins take a hit

The weaker profit performance was driven by an adverse revenue mix, lower-margin order execution, elevated input costs and forex volatility. ABB also flagged slower project execution and a cautious operating environment, while saying that selective delivery deferrals in metals, cement and parts of infrastructure reflected rescheduled expansion timelines rather than a deterioration in underlying demand.

In the analyst presentation, the company broke down the pressure further: Electrification faced higher copper and silver costs and currency depreciation, Motion saw some price pressure in markets and products, and Automation earnings were softer because of lower revenues. Geopolitical tensions in West Asia also added logistics complexity and raised near-term costs, even though ABB said the domestic market remains comparatively resilient.

Beyond the numbers, ABB’s announcement of a $75 million investment to expand manufacturing and R&D for critical segments was the other big takeaway. The plan covers five locations and is aimed at serving renewables, metro rail and data centres, which suggests ABB is leaning hard into India’s industrial capex cycle.

The quarter also included a major corporate reshaping move. ABB India completed the sale of its shareholding in ABB Robotics India and the slump sale of the robotics business, booking a profit of ₹1,658.48 crore from discontinued operations. That lifted reported profit sharply, with total profit for the period at ₹1,783.65 crore, but it is a one-off gain and should not be confused with the company’s continuing operating performance.

Management tone stays upbeat

Managing director Sanjeev Sharma said ABB India has built “a strong and resilient foundation” and is well positioned to capitalise on India’s next industrial capex cycle. The company also said it remains on track on sustainability, including an ~82% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions versus its 2019 baseline and continued progress toward RE100.

Shares of ABB India ended 2.48% lower at ₹7,012.50 apiece on the NSE on Friday. The stock has gained about 33% over the past year, outperforming the Nifty Next 50, which has risen nearly 14% in the same period.