Lucky Cement Posts Rs. 68 Billion Profit for 9 Months, Still Skips Dividend Payout

Lucky Cement (LUCK) reported a consolidated Profit After Tax (PAT) attributable to shareholders of Rs. 63.68 billion for the nine months of FY26 (9MFY26), marking a robust 11 percent year-on-year (YoY) increase.

For the third quarter alone (3QFY26), the company announced its results today, recording consolidated attributable profits of Rs. 19.07 billion (EPS of Rs. 13.02), reflecting an increase of 6 percent YoY.

According to Topline Securities, the results came in lower than the industry’s expectations due to lower-than-expected gross margins and a lower contribution from associates.

Alongside the results, the company did not announce any cash dividend, in line with expectations.

However, unconsolidated profitability in 3QFY26 clocked in at Rs. 13.4 billion, up by 56 percent quarter-on-quarter (QoQ), due to higher dividend income from subsidiaries.

On a consolidated basis, net revenue increased by 20 percent YoY and 5 percent QoQ to Rs. 130.2 billion. This takes 9MFY26 net revenue to Rs. 377 billion, up by 13 percent YoY.

The improvement in revenue on a YoY basis is primarily driven by a 5 percent YoY increase in dispatches coupled with improved revenue from subsidiaries, particularly Lucky Motors (in line with the auto industry sales trend).

Gross margins on a consolidated basis declined to 23 percent in 3QFY26 from 27 percent in 3QFY25 and 25 percent in 2QFY26. Similarly, the margins declined to 25 percent in 9MFY26 from 28 percent in 9MFY25.

However, on a standalone basis, the gross margins improved to 37 percent in 3QFY26, compared to 33 percent in 3QFY25 and 36 percent in 2QFY26.

The share of profit from associates significantly decreased by 27 percent YoY and 47 percent QoQ to Rs. 2.72 billion in 3QFY26, taking 9MFY26 figures to Rs. 13.2bn, up by 3 percent YoY.

Finance costs decreased by 15 percent YoY to Rs. 4.6 billion in 3QFY26 due to lower debt levels, which takes the 9MFY26 finance cost to Rs. 14.2 billion, down by 30 percent YoY vs. Rs. 20.2 billion in 9MFY25.

The consolidated effective tax rate (ETR) clocked in at 15.2 percent in 3QFY26 vs. 21.1 percent in 3QFY25. Meanwhile, the unconsolidated ETR stood at 18 percent vs. 21 percent in 3QFY25.

LUCK is trading at FY26E/27F P/E multiples of 6.2/5.3x, respectively.