Merging Numbers with custom format - how to keep format

I have three digit numbers in columns A,B and C. They are custom formatted so that if there is not a third digit it adds a "0" to the front.

Example: 25 would be 025.

I used the equation: =A2&"-"&B2&"-"&C2 to combine them into one cell separated by dashes.

The problem that I am having is that the 0's are being dropped. How do I keep the first 0's?

A B C D What I need
025 054 065 25-54-65 025-054-065
068 002 095 68-2-95 068-002-095
001 085 004 1-85-4 001-085-004

I am trying to merge this number into a report and trying to use custom formatting does not translate.

Thank you,

Try this:

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Hi,

Formatting, whether custom or standard does not change the underlying value, only what the value looks like.

You need to work with the actual values. i.e.

=REPT("0",3-LEN(A1))&A1&"-"&REPT("0",3-LEN(B1))&B1&"-"&REPT("0",3-LEN(C1))&C1