L&T walks a tightrope as new orders dwindle

Company braces for a lacklustre order inflow scenario in FY18

Larsen and Toubro (L&T), reckoned as India’s best proxy to play the domestic capital expansion (capex) market, now seems to be walking a tightrope. While the Street gave a thumbs up to its September quarter (Q2) results, the big disappointment was the cut in FY18 order inflow guidance to flat growth (zero per cent growth) as against a 12-14 per cent increase guided earlier. L&T’s order book (pending orders) grew by a mere two per cent to Rs 2,57,500 crore in Q2. This was after removing Rs 6,500 crore of slow or non-moving projects. The current order book offers reasonable