JNK India Expects Good Order Inflows In FY26 Despite Recent Execution Challenges

JNK India, a leading player in the heating equipment industry, is optimistic about executing projects and order inflows in the current financial year, even though it faced challenges in the second half of the last fiscal.

In the third quarter, the execution has been a bit challenging. In the second half of the last fiscal, a lot of the public-sector-undertaking projects faced execution delays, according to Chairperson Arvind Kamath.

However, in the current fiscal, the company exuded confidence of completing the execution of projects. "We already have a good inflow and good pipeline from the previous quarter as well. So we do expect a good traction in H1 in terms of the order inflow in FY26," Kamath told NDTV Profit.

Kamath added that the March quarter was decent for the company, underscoring that one needs to understand the nature of JNK's business.

The heating equipment business is very long-term and has a long lead time for registration, in terms of execution, engineering, design, supplies and site construction, he said. "So, immediate response takes time to be reflected in the company's operational metrics."

As of the end of the December quarter, the company's order book stood at over Rs 1,200 crore, with 92% comprising domestic orders and 82% from the heating segment. JNK aims to maintain a hit rate of 20% to 30% for order finalisation. The bidding pipeline remains strong at Rs 4,000 crore. 

In the first nine months of the last fiscal, revenue increased 16% to Rs 295 crore and Ebitda declined 48% year-on-year. During the same period, the net profit declined 63% year-on-year to Rs 16.9 crore. 

Kamath said the recent geopolitical developments due to the US-imposed tariffs opened new avenues for the company. He added that the last fiscal had been "fantastic" for the company in terms of order mix because it is foraying into tracking furnaces, incinerators, processed plants and flares, which JNK did not do earlier.

"We are foraying into some of the geographies, which we were not doing earlier, like the USA, Malaysia," he said. "So, it has been positive."