Orient Cables’ lender filings differed from books across FY24-26

Orient Cables disclosed repeated differences between quarterly current-asset statements supplied to lenders and its unaudited books in Fiscal 2026, Fiscal 2025 and Fiscal 2024. The largest disclosed item was a ₹34.846 crore difference in trade receivables at March 31, 2026, although the company stated that the listed exceptions had no material impact on its financial statements or financial position.

What did auditors find in Orient Cables’ lender filings?

Auditors found exceptions between Orient Cables’ lender filings and unaudited books under Clause (ii)(b) of the Companies (Auditor’s Report) Order, 2020, or CARO, in Fiscal 2026, Fiscal 2025 and Fiscal 2024. The clause applied because Orient Cables had aggregate working-capital limits above ₹5 crore at points during each year, secured against current assets.

Current assets in these filings included inventory and trade receivables. Inventory comprises materials and goods held for production or sale, while trade receivables are amounts owed by customers for sales already made. The auditor stated that quarterly returns and statements agreed with unaudited books except for listed items, rather than stating that every filing was inaccurate.

For Fiscal 2026, the exceptions covered inventory and trade receivables at September 30, 2025, December 31, 2025 and March 31, 2026. The June 30, 2025 trade-receivables line showed no difference at ₹203.919 crore in both the unaudited books and the quarterly statement, whereas the March 2026 receivables item was substantially larger than the other listed variances.

How large was the FY26 trade-receivables difference?

The largest Fiscal 2026 difference was ₹34.846 crore in trade receivables at March 31, 2026. Orient Cables’ unaudited books showed ₹251.662 crore of trade receivables, while the quarterly statement filed with the lender showed ₹286.507 crore, meaning the lender statement was higher by ₹34.846 crore under the signed-difference convention in the audit table.

The March 2026 receivables difference exceeded every other Fiscal 2026 variance disclosed in the same CARO observation. The next-largest item was a ₹0.910 crore inventory difference at September 30, 2025; the table also contains another September 30, 2025 inventory line with a ₹0.617 crore difference. The table therefore identifies year-end receivables, rather than inventory, as the main scale issue in the Fiscal 2026 lender-filings disclosure.

Orient Cables reported trade receivables of ₹218.118 crore in Fiscal 2026 in a separate working-capital disclosure, compared with ₹162.168 crore in Fiscal 2025 and ₹136.409 crore in Fiscal 2024. These figures are presented in restated consolidated and standalone financial information and differ in basis from the quarter-specific unaudited-book amounts considered under CARO, so they are not direct substitutes for the March 31, 2026 comparison.

Did discrepancies occur before Fiscal 2026?

Yes, the CARO observations list exceptions in Fiscal 2025 and Fiscal 2024 as well as Fiscal 2026. For Fiscal 2025, the auditor listed differences at June 30, September 30 and December 31, 2024, involving inventory, trade receivables or both categories. The stated explanations referred to grouping changes involving advances to suppliers and customers, as well as overhead effects in valuation.

Fiscal 2024 contained the largest earlier trade-receivables exception, at ₹13.739 crore on March 31, 2024. The unaudited books showed trade receivables of ₹137.204 crore, compared with ₹150.943 crore in the lender statement. The same date also carried an inventory difference of ₹9.283 crore, with ₹40.353 crore in the books and ₹31.070 crore in the lender statement.

The observations therefore extended across three fiscal years and two current-asset categories. The stated explanations varied by period and included grouping of advances, overhead valuation, accounts-receivable factoring, rearrangement, timing differences, provisioning, classification matters and year-end audit entries. Orient Cables did not quantify the contribution of each factor to the ₹34.846 crore March 2026 receivables difference.

Why do the reporting controls matter for working capital?

The reporting controls matter because Orient Cables uses bank facilities for working capital and reported higher net working-capital needs in Fiscal 2026. Net working-capital days, defined by Orient Cables as inventory days plus trade-receivable days minus trade-payable days, rose to 48 days in Fiscal 2026 from 27 days in Fiscal 2025 and 14 days in Fiscal 2024.

Orient Cables’ defined net working-capital requirement, calculated as trade receivables minus trade payables, increased to ₹235.299 crore in Fiscal 2026 from ₹114.835 crore in Fiscal 2025 and ₹59.946 crore in Fiscal 2024. As a share of revenue from operations, the measure rose to 20.08% from 13.92% in Fiscal 2025 and 9.11% in Fiscal 2024. The source does not establish that the CARO exceptions caused the increase, but it shows that current-asset reporting was material to an expanding working-capital requirement.

Orient Cables also reported negative operating cash flow of ₹26.644 crore in Fiscal 2026, following negative ₹9.785 crore in Fiscal 2025 and positive ₹42.181 crore in Fiscal 2024. The company attributed the Fiscal 2026 outflow primarily to a planned increase in inventory and advance payments to creditors. Those cash-flow figures do not link the lender-filing differences to the outflow, but they provide the disclosed operating context for the company’s reliance on current assets and working-capital facilities.

What has Orient Cables said it will do to prevent recurrence?

Orient Cables said it completed detailed reconciliations, strengthened internal controls and review mechanisms, and enhanced processes for preparing information submitted to banks. Its stated plan is to submit quarterly returns and statements after adjustments and classifications are considered, while revised standard operating procedures, or SOPs, for financial reporting include stricter checks and controls.

Orient Cables said implementation of the revised SOPs was in process in its Fiscal 2026 response. The broader response attributed variances mainly to timing differences, provisioning and classification issues, while specific Fiscal 2026 entries referred to management being cognizant of discrepancies and year-end audit entries. The disclosure gives no completion date, control-testing result or independent assessment of the revised procedures.

The statutory auditor reported no audit qualifications for the three months ended June 30, 2026 or for Fiscal 2026, Fiscal 2025 and Fiscal 2024. CARO observations and emphasis-of-matter disclosures are distinct from an audit qualification. Orient Cables’ statement that the listed matters had no material impact on financial statements or financial position is the company’s assessment in the relevant tables.

Conclusion

The disclosure records recurring differences between lender statements and unaudited books in Fiscal 2024, Fiscal 2025 and Fiscal 2026, rather than a single isolated variance. The ₹34.846 crore March 31, 2026 trade-receivables difference was the largest disclosed item and arose in a year when Orient Cables’ defined net working-capital requirement reached ₹235.299 crore.

The next update to watch is whether the revised SOPs, reconciliations and pre-submission reviews are fully implemented and prevent further exceptions. Orient Cables disclosed that implementation was in process, but did not provide a deadline or later control-testing outcome; subsequent auditor reports and comparisons of lender statements with books would provide that evidence.