Lloyds Metals & Energy’s record carries six years of unqualified audit opinions and clean fraud reports, but the numbers demand a closer look. A ₹1,166.16 crore goodwill entry was recognised on a ₹70 crore acquisition, receivables grew far faster than sales, and a group structure that expanded from one dormant joint venture to 47 entities in four years.
Key findings
- Revenue rose 155%, but receivables grew 8.7x and the DSRI hit 3.39
Major- Consolidated revenue climbed from ₹6,721 crore in FY25 to ₹17,113 crore in FY26, while trade receivables jumped from ₹171 crore to ₹1,481 crore over the same period. The Days Sales in Receivables Index reached 3.39, driven by a 239% increase in the receivables-to-revenue ratio. - Cumulative operating cash flow covers only half of cumulative EBITDA, and dividends continue despite deeply negative free cash flow
Major- Cumulative CFO of ₹5,368 crore covered 0.49x of cumulative EBITDA of ₹10,882 crore over the ten years through FY2025-26. Free cash flow was negative for two consecutive years, including ₹-7,040 crore in FY2025-26, yet the company paid a dividend of ₹52 crore in the same year. CWIP stood at ₹13,946 crore, representing 140% of gross PP&E of ₹9,992 crore, and ROCE declined from 60.91% in FY2023-24 to 16.62% in FY2025-26. - Goodwill of ₹1,166.16 crore recognised on a ₹70 crore acquisition
Major- LMEL acquired 79.82% of Thriveni Earthmovers and Infra Private Limited for total consideration of ₹70 crore in FY2025-26 and recognised goodwill of ₹1,166.16 crore. The holding diluted to 75.62% by 31 March 2026 due to further share issuance to outsiders. - Promoter family dominates the board, excess remuneration required shareholder ratification, and an independent director was re-designated within eight months amid institutional dissent
Major- The Non-executive Chairman and the Managing Director are brothers, and the board includes multiple promoter-family members across executive and non-executive roles. The company paid excess remuneration to three Executive Directors in FY2024-25 and sought shareholder ratification at the 48th AGM, where the waiver resolution drew 10.50% votes against from public shareholders. Mr. Shabbirhusein Khandwawala was appointed Independent Director on 18 December 2024 and re-designated Non-Independent on 12 August 2025; the re-designation resolution saw 82.99% of public institutional votes cast against it at the EGM on 11 September 2025. - The group expanded from one dormant joint venture to 47 entities across four countries, with control at minority stakes and unaudited subsidiary financials
Major- The consolidated group comprised 47 entities as of FY26, up from 3 subsidiaries in FY24 and 1 joint venture in FY22. Lloyds Global Resources FZCO, incorporated in Dubai on 25 September 2025, acquired a 49% stake in Chemaf Group (DRC), which management consolidates because “we are having the operational control on the ground”. The joint venture Thriveni Lloyds Mining Private Limited had unaudited financial statements for FY21, FY22, and FY23, and the FY23 consolidated audit report noted one subsidiary with total assets of ₹32.23 lakhs was unaudited. - Unqualified audit opinions across all six years with clean CARO reports on fraud and wilful default
Clean- The statutory auditors issued unqualified opinions on standalone and consolidated financial statements for every year from FY2020-21 through FY2025-26. No fraud was reported under Section 143(12) in any year, and CARO Clause ix confirmed the company was not declared a wilful defaulter by any bank or financial institution across all six years. The sole blemish is an Emphasis of Matter in the FY2025-26 consolidated report for the ₹600 crore prior-period reclassification in subsidiary TEIPL.
What to watch
- TEIL RPT utilisation. Actual spending against the ₹15,820 crore TEIL limit approved on 29 April 2026, given ₹5,142.88 crore was already transacted in FY2025-26 before approval.
- Redeemable preference share repayment. The remaining ₹1,400 crore of Thriveni Earthmovers RPS is to be repaid over the next three years as stated by management in the Q4 FY26 transcript.
- CWIP capitalisation and future returns. The remaining ₹14,500 crore of planned capex is to be spent over FY2026-27 and FY2027-28, with the large CWIP balance set to weigh on depreciation and ROCE as it capitalises.
Bottom line: This is an audited record with clean fraud and wilful-defaulter checks across six years. The character of the risk is governance and pace: a board and promoter group that sets related-party limits far beyond counterparty capacity, funds expansion through subsidiary debt and preference shares while calling the company debt-free, and recognised goodwill of ₹1,166.16 crore on a ₹70 crore acquisition. Watch the shareholder votes on the RPT resolutions and the capitalisation of the CWIP mountain, those two events will test whether the checks that remain are real or ceremonial.