ABB India books Rs 1,658.48 crore robotics sale gain in March

For the nine months ended September 30, 2026, ABB India Limited reported Rs 1,436.67 crore after-tax profit from discontinued operations, including a Rs 1,658.48 crore gain on the March 1 sale of its robotics business. ABB India sold the business to ABB Robotics India for Rs 1,568.20 crore, while continuing operations generated Rs 1,151.80 crore net profit.

What drove ABB India’s nine-month profit?

ABB India’s reported profit for the nine months ended September 30, 2026 was Rs 2,588.47 crore, compared with Rs 1,235.41 crore in the corresponding 2025 period, because discontinued operations contributed Rs 1,436.67 crore after tax. The company recorded the Rs 1,658.48 crore profit on sale as discontinued-operations profit under Indian Accounting Standard 105, or Ind AS 105.

Continuing operations, by contrast, reported Rs 1,151.80 crore profit after tax for the nine-month period, down from Rs 1,197.91 crore a year earlier. Profit before tax from continuing operations was Rs 1,541.28 crore, compared with Rs 1,602.68 crore in the previous-year period, despite higher continuing revenue.

The comparison shows that continuing revenue increased by Rs 1,400.41 crore year on year, while continuing profit after tax decreased by Rs 46.11 crore. The discontinued-operations contribution increased by Rs 1,399.17 crore, accounting for the change in the reported total-profit figure.

How was the robotics business sale structured?

ABB India executed the business transfer arrangement with ABB Robotics India on March 1, 2026 and sold the robotics business for Rs 1,568.20 crore. The company said the sale followed shareholder approval of a material related-party transaction through an ordinary resolution passed by postal ballot on February 27, 2026.

The company recorded Rs 1,658.48 crore as profit on sale, described as the difference between the consideration received and the robotics business’s net assets at the transfer date. ABB India classified both that sale profit and the robotics business’s income and expenses for January 1, 2026 through February 28, 2026 as discontinued operations.

The classification also applies to comparative periods presented in the September 2026 results. This presentation separates the disposed robotics business from ABB India’s continuing Motion, Electrification and Automation activities, allowing the Rs 1,151.80 crore continuing profit to be viewed separately from the Rs 1,436.67 crore discontinued-operations result.

How did ABB India’s continuing operations perform in the September quarter?

ABB India’s continuing revenue from operations in the quarter ended September 30, 2026 was Rs 3,738.13 crore, compared with Rs 3,130.11 crore in the corresponding 2025 quarter and Rs 3,558.87 crore in the preceding June 2026 quarter. Continuing profit after tax was Rs 439.82 crore, versus Rs 398.05 crore a year earlier and Rs 370.07 crore in the preceding quarter.

The September-quarter total profit was Rs 442.52 crore, only Rs 2.70 crore of which came from discontinued operations after tax. That contrasts with the nine-month result, where discontinued operations supplied Rs 1,436.67 crore after tax, reflecting the gain on the sale booked in March.

Costs also rose alongside continuing revenue in the nine-month period. Raw materials, components and project bought-outs were Rs 5,490.23 crore, against Rs 4,570.33 crore a year earlier, while employee-benefit expense was Rs 728.64 crore, compared with Rs 662.45 crore. Other expenses increased to Rs 1,803.20 crore from Rs 1,545.28 crore.

Other income was Rs 270.66 crore for the nine months ended September 30, 2026, slightly below Rs 276.03 crore a year earlier. Finance costs declined to Rs 10.94 crore from Rs 14.44 crore, but depreciation and amortisation rose to Rs 125.86 crore from Rs 105.33 crore.

Which continuing segments changed most for ABB India?

Electrification was ABB India’s largest continuing segment by nine-month revenue at Rs 5,295.62 crore, up from Rs 4,114.46 crore in the corresponding 2025 period. Its segment result, measured before tax and interest, rose to Rs 853.34 crore from Rs 827.72 crore.

Motion generated Rs 3,764.93 crore of nine-month revenue, compared with Rs 3,358.55 crore a year earlier, but its segment result declined to Rs 473.80 crore from Rs 600.24 crore. Automation revenue fell to Rs 1,529.71 crore from Rs 1,679.87 crore, and its segment result declined to Rs 218.74 crore from Rs 286.30 crore.

ABB India renamed its erstwhile Process Automation segment as Automation effective January 1, 2026. In the September quarter, Electrification revenue was Rs 1,926.80 crore, ahead of Motion at Rs 1,335.53 crore and Automation at Rs 505.22 crore; Automation was lower than its Rs 601.31 crore revenue in the September 2025 quarter.

What other disclosed items affected ABB India’s results?

ABB India said it received an order from the Regional Provident Fund Commissioner on September 23, 2026 to surrender its exempted provident-fund arrangement. The accumulated provident-fund liabilities were transferred to the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation, or EPFO, with effect from October 1, 2026.

Following that arrangement, the trust disposed of investments after the September 30 balance-sheet date and reversed accruals relating to future interest-liability shortfalls. ABB India recorded a Rs 6.20 crore net gain in profit and loss and Rs 3.70 crore in other comprehensive income from the arrangement.

The company’s consolidated and standalone results were the same for the period ended September 30, 2026 because it reported no transactions in its subsidiary during the period. The Audit Committee reviewed the statement and the board approved it on November 13, 2026.

Conclusion

ABB India’s Rs 2,588.47 crore nine-month profit contains a substantial disposal component from the robotics transfer: the Rs 1,658.48 crore sale gain was classified within discontinued operations. Continuing revenue nevertheless rose to Rs 10,481.06 crore, while continuing profit after tax was Rs 1,151.80 crore, below the Rs 1,197.91 crore reported a year earlier.

The next reported periods will reflect ABB India’s operations after the March 1, 2026 robotics transfer and the October 1, 2026 transfer of provident-fund liabilities to EPFO. Readers can monitor whether the higher revenue in Electrification and Motion, including Rs 5,295.62 crore and Rs 3,764.93 crore respectively over nine months, translates into changes in continuing profit.