After a bruising fiscal year in which revenues and earnings slid, Fast Cables Ltd has opened FY26 on a firmer footing. The Lahore‑based wire, cable and conductors manufacturer reported a strong first‑quarter bounce in sales and profits, a print management links to early signs of revived procurement by utilities and the government, and to a pipeline of private‑sector projects long delayed by high inflation and tight budgets.
The company’s analyst briefing in early November offered a striking contrast: a difficult FY25 now in the rear‑view mirror and a first quarter that suggests demand is finally moving again. The tone was cautiously optimistic – emphasis on “cautiously” – but with a clear message that capital expenditure across the public and private sectors is the key variable for the rest of the year.
Fast Cables’ 1QFY26 numbers point to a turn in operating momentum. Net sales rose to Rs8.6 billion, up 20% year‑on‑year from Rs7.2 billion in 1QFY25. Gross margin improved to 17% from 15%, lifting gross profit by 39% to Rs1.5 billion. Operating profit surged 70% to Rs1.0 billion, and profit after tax climbed 87% to Rs388 m. Quarterly earnings per share were Rs0.6, versus Rs0.3 a year earlier. Finance costs eased 26%, helping the bottom line even as the company stepped up activity.
Set against those quarterly gains is a subdued FY25 base. For the year ended June 2025, net sales fell 12% to Rs31.9 billion from Rs36.0 billion, as inflation‑squeezed procurement and delayed projects bit into volumes. Gross margin slipped to 17% from 19%, with profit after tax down 33% to Rs1.3 billion and full‑year EPS at Rs2.0 from Rs2.9. The company cited a sharp contraction in orders from utilities and other state‑linked entities – down 36% year‑on‑year – as budget allocations for distribution‑company modernisation and related infrastructure were trimmed.
Management’s Q1 commentary stopped short of calling an all‑clear. But the combination of higher volumes, better mix, and a modest reduction in finance charges as the interest‑rate cycle eased gave the quarter a healthier shape than any period in the prior year. The team guided that 2026 should see “meaningful” operating improvement as stalled public‑sector projects move forward and as export channels and private‑sector work pick up.
Critically for a firm that sells into long‑cycle infrastructure and utility networks, the pace of public‑sector capital expenditure has begun to normalise. The federal budget for FY26 allocates Rs1.0 trillion to the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP), with infrastructure – including energy and transport – again prominent in the “Budget at a Glance” table. That headline envelope matters for upstream suppliers like cable manufacturers because it underpins awards for grid upgrades, grid‑station extensions, and urban‑services work that had been repeatedly deferred.
Fast Cables’ roots stretch back nearly four decades, with the company formally founded in 1985 and building its reputation as a premium domestic supplier of cables and conductors. Based in Lahore, it has grown from a single‑focus cable maker into a broader industrial group with verticals in Cables, Lights, Metals and PVC, while keeping the Fast Cables brand at its core. The company maintains that the brand’s “real quality” positioning – reinforced by third‑party certifications and an in‑house testing regime – has been central to its growth.
The group entered the public markets last year. The Pakistan Stock Exchange formally listed Fast Cables on 10 June 2024, marking one of the larger industrial IPOs of the fiscal year. The exchange’s gong ceremony two days later underlined the market’s appetite for industrial names with credible domestic‑demand exposure and the promise of export growth.
Alongside factory expansion, the company has invested in customer‑facing technology. Its Fast Tasdeeq and Fast Tasdeeq Plus services allow installers, dealers and end‑users to verify the authenticity of products by SMS or QR code – part of an effort to counter counterfeits and ensure compliance on critical installations. Those tools live inside the firm’s mobile Fast App and have been widely trailed in trade media and on the company’s site.
Fast Cables also emphasises certification and compliance. Management told analysts the company achieved KEMA Gold certification at the Dutch high‑voltage laboratory and secured third‑party British standards accreditation (a path that, in the industry, typically runs through BASEC or related bodies). Beyond cables, the company says it operates the first ISO 17025‑certified laboratory in Pakistan’s cable and wire industry and has achieved multiple international standards across its product families. These credentials, coupled with testing capability, have been key to approvals for regional projects, including qualification to supply to the UAE transmission network. The corporate notes and investor materials place this testing and certification posture at the centre of export strategy.
If there is a single reason Fast Cables is positioned to benefit from a capex restart, it is the breadth of its catalogue. The company describes a 10‑plus category line‑up and roughly 6,000 SKUs spanning transmission‑line cables and conductors, control and instrumentation wires, underground power cables, and overhead conductors. That reach allows the sales team to follow the customer – from national grid extensions to city‑level distribution, and from industrial estates to commercial buildings – without ceding share at the project boundary. The network is backed by a nationwide branch and distribution footprint and, increasingly, a commercial presence in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and the United States through staff and partners.
The company is also pushing into lighting. Management told analysts that home, commercial and infrastructure‑grade street lighting solutions are now a strategic focus, with a target for the lighting division to contribute 10–15% of overall revenues in the five‑year plan. On the ground, that push is visible through the Fast Lights range – from road luminaires engineered for dusty, humid environments to indoor and professional products – supported by a dedicated website and catalogues that mirror international competitors. The strategic hook is straightforward: lighting projects often bundle with cable procurement, giving Fast Cables a second product family to sell into the same capex cycles.
Under the hood, the company casts itself as a process‑driven manufacturer that “designs to code” and “tests to failure” – language more commonly heard from European incumbents than from emerging‑market rivals. That quality stance, the company argues, has been validated by recognitions such as KEMA type tests and British standards accreditation, and by project approvals on foreign grids. In a market where compliance is increasingly a pre‑qualification gate, certifications can be a moat as well as a passport.
Capacity is expanding, too. Pre‑IPO materials referenced growth in copper and aluminium rod capacities to feed downstream cable output – an internal hedge against import bottlenecks and a way to control input quality. Post‑listing, the company has signalled that the mix will continue to tilt to higher‑value cables and engineered lighting rather than commodity wires.
For a supplier whose products run through every energy and infrastructure node, the quantity and quality of capex is destiny. After two years of belt‑tightening, there are signs of normalisation.
First, the federal development budget is back at scale. The Budget in Brief for FY26 sets the Federal PSDP at Rs1.0 trn. In plain terms: funds for transmission lines, grid stations, road corridors and urban services that require kilometres of cable and conductor. The milestone appears in Table‑1: Budget 2025‑26 at a Glance, which lists the PSDP line item under “Development & Net Lending”.
Second, utility investment plans are moving. In the transmission segment, last autumn the government announced a Rs352 billion plan to strengthen NTDC’s network – projects ranging from a new 220 kV grid station at Dhabeji to looping works on the Jhimpir line. These are exactly the sorts of jobs that consume high‑performance conductors and specialised cable. In the distribution segment, NEPRA has been processing review and investment‑plan determinations for Discos, laying the regulatory groundwork for capex on loss‑reduction, system reinforcement and service quality. Each approval may look technical, but together they create the demand that fills cable factories.
Third, concessional financing is supportive. The Asian Development Bank’s ongoing Second Power Transmission Enhancement programme continues to disburse for asset upgrades, with fresh monitoring reports posted through mid‑2025. Multilateral programmes do not swing quarterly numbers, but they anchor a multi‑year pipeline for transmission equipment and materials – again, a favourable backdrop for suppliers with the testing and quality credentials multilateral borrowers demand.
On the tariff side, NEPRA’s adjustments for Discos in FY26, and the broader evolution of multi‑year tariff frameworks, point to a modestly more predictable operating environment for utilities. Combined with a nascent recovery in electricity demand, that predictability can unlock delayed maintenance and network modernisation – both cable‑intensive.
The macro linkages matter. Electrical infrastructure spends seed activity across construction, housing and industry. Each time a grid station is extended, a feeder upgraded or a municipal lighting project is rolled out, there is a chain of upstream and downstream orders: from copper and aluminium rod, to polymer insulation, to testing services and civil works. For Fast Cables, that chain is the business model: convert more of those programmes into orders, bundle cables with lighting where relevant, and use certifications and delivery performance to defend pricing.
Management’s commentary in the briefing underscored three levers to turn a macro tailwind into company‑level growth.
Compliance and certification. In a market where state‑linked buyers are increasingly risk‑averse and multilateral lenders require rigorous documentation, third‑party certifications are no longer window dressing. Fast Cables’ ISO 17025 lab and the KEMA Gold credential, alongside British standards certification, are positioned as door‑openers for both domestic tenders and export orders. The company says these credentials have already expanded eligibility to regional and global projects, including the UAE government’s transmission network.
Channel reach and digital verification. The nationwide branch network and the company’s presence in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and the United States provide access to customers across markets. At home, Fast Tasdeeq and Tasdeeq Plus help installers and buyers verify authenticity – reducing counterfeit risk and building brand trust, especially on mission‑critical jobs.
Portfolio adjacency – lighting. By developing a parallel lighting business – from street lights to professional and consumer luminaires – the company aims to ride the same procurement cycles with a second ticket. The target to lift lighting to 10–15% of revenue over five years is deliberately incremental: bolt on, not bet‑the‑company.
The immediate question for investors is whether 1QFY26 is the start of a trend or a blip. Two elements argue for the former.
Order book and mix. The swing in gross margin to 17% in Q1 suggests volumes are returning in higher‑value lines. Management’s narrative – resumption in government and utility orders, and strengthening private‑sector demand as rates ease – aligns with the year’s budgetary and regulatory set‑up. While FY25’s slump in utility procurement (–36%) is a reminder that policy can turn quickly, the PSDP allocation and utility investment approvals point to a better‑funded pipeline in FY26.
Cost of money. Finance charges fell 26% in Q1, and, while not a profit driver on their own, lower borrowing costs help a working‑capital‑intensive manufacturer buffer price competition and scale production as orders arrive. Should the interest‑rate environment remain broadly supportive, the improvement below the operating line will continue to complement operating gains.
Risks remain. Competition is “intensifying across major segments,” management acknowledges, and energy‑tariff volatility can compress margins if price pass‑through lags. But the company appears to be using the tools at its disposal – testing credentials, export approvals, product breadth and digital verification – to keep price realisations and volumes on track.
The proof of a capex rebound will be in tender calendars and award notices from NTDC and the Discos. Grid‑station extensions, conductor upgrades, and feeder reinforcement all translate into immediate cable demand.
Municipal street‑lighting programmes and industrial campus upgrades are natural homes for Fast Lights. A rising contribution from lighting – towards the 10–15% five‑year target – would be evidence that cross‑selling is working.
Approvals in the Gulf and North America are promising, but conversion to repeat orders is the hard part. The company’s standards portfolio suggests it can compete on compliance; the task now is to prove that service levels and pricing can win share.
The PSDP envelope is the tide that lifts or drops many industrial boats. The Rs1.0 trillion allocation for FY26 is supportive; mid‑year revisions, if any, will be important. Continued multilateral financing for transmission upgrades, as documented by the ADB, adds a measure of insulation to the project pipeline.
Fast Cables’ Q1 shows what a normalising capex environment can do for a well‑positioned industrial: volumes return, mix improves, and margins expand. The company spent FY25 contending with squeezed budgets, high energy costs and fierce competition, and the numbers showed it. This year has started differently. With a Rs1.0 trillion federal development programme, advancing investment plans in transmission and distribution, and a backlog of private projects to wire and light, the demand picture looks less anaemic.
To capture that demand, Fast Cables will lean on a familiar formula: compliance as a moat, channel reach at home and abroad, and a widening portfolio that travels with the same customer through the project cycle. It is too early to call a full‑blown upturn, but after a long pause, the cables are humming again.
