01 — At a Glance
The Cable Company That Makes Everything But Profits
- 52-Week High / Low₹1,008 / ₹407
- Q3 FY26 Revenue₹768 Cr
- Q3 FY26 PAT₹27.2 Cr
- EPS (Q3)₹7.84
- Annualised EPS (Q3 × 4)₹31.36
- Book Value / Share₹539
- Price to Book1.25x
- TTM EPS₹45.39
- Order Book₹2,889 Cr
- Capex (Revised)₹550 Cr
Flash Summary: Universal Cables posted Q3 FY26 PAT of ₹27.2 crore with revenue of ₹768 crore. That’s a 71.8% profit jump YoY and 26.4% revenue growth. The order book hit ₹2,889 crore. The stock? Down 24.3% in 3 months. The Chief Secretary? Resigning on Feb 28, 2026. Nothing says “we’re crushing it” like senior management hitting the exit door while holding the profit report. Truly, the Birla Group special.
02 — Introduction
When You Make Cables, Not Money (At Least That’s What The Stock Thinks)
Universal Cables Limited is a 50+ year old cable manufacturing company owned by the MP Birla Group — you know, the same group that owns Birla Corporation (cement), Birla Cable, and about a dozen other things that probably shouldn’t all be under one roof but are because “synergy.”
UCL makes everything. Extra High Voltage cables up to 500 kV (for the power sector that can’t stop arguing about infrastructure). Low voltage cables (for your neighbourhood electrical disasters). Medium voltage cables (the middle child nobody cares about). Rubber cables (for OEMs). Optical fibre cables (for when copper is too 2010s). And capacitors made with Toshiba collaboration because apparently, you can’t trust yourself to make a capacitor alone.
The company’s financial results are like watching a Bollywood movie plot: Strong business growth, amazing order books, expanding capacity, and then — BAM — the stock crashes, management resigns, and you’re left thinking “What just happened?” The CFO quit in September 2025. The Chief Secretary is leaving Feb 28, 2026. Meanwhile, profit margins are expanding, EHV cables are selling like biryani at a wedding, and the order book is at ₹2,889 crore. It’s chaos dressed up as a quarterly result.
CARE Rating Note (Feb 2026): CARE A; Stable / CARE A1 — both reaffirmed with limits enhanced. The rating agency is saying everything is fine, capital structure is comfortable, margins are improving. Funny how good ratings don’t translate to stock price appreciation. Maybe the market knows something the rating agency doesn’t. Or maybe it’s just being paranoid. Probably the latter.
03 — Business Model: Making Cables So You Can Turn On Lights
The Power Sector’s Unsung Hero (That Nobody Wants To Own)
Universal Cables is 100% dependent on making and selling cables to the Indian power sector. That’s 75% of revenue. The power sector is massive, capital-intensive, and moves at the speed of a government approval — which is to say, glacially. But once a project is approved, it needs cables. Lots of them.
The company’s revenue split: 92% from electrical and other cables, 4% from cable accessories and associated equipment, 4% from installation and commissioning. So basically, if you need a cable, UCL has it. If you need to install it, they’ll do that too. If you need them to come back and fix it in 2 years, they’ll be crying about margin compression by then.
Product portfolio: LV cables (low voltage, for safety-conscious customers), MV cables (medium voltage, the compromise choice), EHV cables (extra high voltage, the real money maker, 220 kV and above). They also have a turnkey EPC business where they design, supply, lay, install, and commission entire power cables for utilities. These are 18–24 month projects with milestone-based payments. Translation: they lend money to customers for 24 months and call it “EPC business.”
Power Sector Revenue~75%of total revenue
EPC Business18–24 Monthsexecution timeline
EHV CablesHigh Margingrowth driver
Order Book₹2,889 Cras of Dec 2025
The real story: EHV cables (extra high voltage) are the crown jewels. These are 220 kV and above, made using VCV (vertical continuous vulcanising) technology licensed from Furukawa Electric, Japan. The margin profile is juicy — 10-12% PBILDT margins are expected once the new plant is operational. The problem? It takes 18 months to convert an order into cash. The other problem? Management keeps quitting. The third problem? Stock price doesn’t care about any of this.
04 — Financials Overview
Q3 FY26: When Good Earnings Mean The Stock Should Fall
Result Type: Quarterly Results | Q3 FY26 EPS: ₹7.84 | Annualised EPS (Q3 × 4): ₹31.36
| Metric (₹ Cr) |
Q3 FY26
Dec 2025 |
Q3 FY25
Dec 2024 |
Q2 FY26
Sep 2025 |
YoY % |
QoQ % |
| Revenue | 768 | 608 | 814 | +26.4% | -5.7% |
| Operating Profit | 60 | 39 | 74 | +53.8% | -18.9% |
| OPM % | 8% | 6% | 9% | +200 bps | -100 bps |
| PAT | 27.2 | 15.8 | 48.0 | +71.8% | -43.3% |
| EPS (₹) | 7.84 | 4.56 | 13.74 | +71.9% | -42.9% |
The Comedy: Revenue up 26.4% YoY. Operating profit up 53.8%. PAT up 71.8%. EPS up 71.9%. And yet, the stock is down 24.3% in 3 months. This is what happens when you announce good results but the CFO is quitting and the chief secretary is also quitting. The market has learned that in Indian manufacturing, management exits are more important than EPS growth. Also, Q2 was clearly a one-time explosion (₹48 crore PAT), so Q3’s ₹27.2 crore looks normal but not exciting. The stock doesn’t like normal.
💬 When a company posts 72% profit growth and the stock falls 24%, are investors smarter than the company, or is there something we’re missing about the management exit? What’s your take?
05 — Valuation Discussion: Fair Value Range
Is ₹676 Cheap, Fair, or Overpriced? Let’s Do The Math
