Tata Steel net rises five-fold at Rs. 1,136 crore on better realisation

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Tata Steel has reported nearly five-fold increase in its consolidated December quarter net profit at Rs. 1,136 crore (Rs. 232 crore), largely due to better realisation in India and revival of demand in Europe.

Sales were up 14 per cent at Rs. 33,100 crore (Rs. 28,912 crore). The company has made a provision of Rs. 1,115 crore towards penalty levied by the regulatory authorities on mining.

Kalinganagar plant

Tata Steel has to shut down operations at the Kalinganagar plant due to unexpected failure of auxiliary equipment. As the downstream operations are integrated to the blast furnace, it has to suspend production at the steel smelting shop and hot strip mills. The company expects to restart production in the next seven to 10 days.

The rights issue to raise Rs. 12,800 crore will be open between February 14 and 28. It will issue about 15.54 crore fully paid shares not exceeding Rs. 8,000 crore at Rs. 510 a share and another about 7.76 crore partially paid shares not exceeding Rs. 4,800 crore at Rs. 615 a piece. It has invested Rs. 2,002 crore during the quarter under review.

On a standalone basis, the company’s net profit and turnover were up 11 per cent each at Rs. 1,338 crore (Rs. 1,205 crore) and Rs. 15,596 crore (Rs. 14,106 crore). EBITDA was up 37 per cent at Rs. 4,647 crore (Rs. 3,393 crore) on better realisation.

Steel sales were up 10 per cent at 3.30 million tonnes (2.99 mt).

TV Narendran, Managing Director, said sales volume growth was strong in India across verticals and increase realisations. The planned maintenance and upgrades in Europe to enhance long-term capability hit operations, he said.

The focus in India will be to expand Kalinganagar plant and pursue inorganic growth. The process for entering into a joint venture with Thyssenkrupp in Europe is progressing well, he added.

Gross debt fell by Rs. 1,658 crore to Rs. 88,601 crore due to repayment and positive impact of forex. It had reserves of Rs. 22,544 crore consisting of Rs. 12,681 crore in cash and cash equivalent and Rs. 9,863 crore in undrawn bank lines.

Source: THE HINDU BUSINESSLINE