Hindustan Times (Patiala)

Tata Steel profit up 54% in Dec quarter

- Tanya Thomas tanya.t@livemint.com n

MUMBAI: Tata Steel, India’s second-largest private steel producer by capacity, reported a 54% rise in net profit in the December quarter over the year-ago period, aided by higher sales volumes and a 24% increase in sales to the lucrative automotive sector.

The October-December net profit stood at ₹1,753 crore compared with ₹1,136 crore a year ago.

Over the same period, production rose 11% to 7.23 million tonnes (mt), of which 4.38 mt was produced in India, backed by its recent acquisitio­n of insolvent Bhushan Steel (now re-named Tata Steel Bamnipal Steel). Sales in India stood at 3.89 mt, accounting for more than 55% of consolidat­ed volumes, the company said.

Consolidat­ed revenue rose to ₹41,220 crore in the period while earnings before interest, taxes, depreciati­on and amortizati­on, or Ebitda, increased 27.4% to ₹7,225 crore.

Stand-alone adjusted Ebitda for the quarter for the Indian operations was ₹4,872 crore. The Ebitda margin stood at 28.4% and Ebitda per tonne was ₹16,407.

For Tata Steel BSL (previously Bhushan Steel), the integratio­n is progressin­g smoothly, the company said, and the focus continues to be on ramping up production and realising synergies. Tata Steel BSL Ebitda for the quarter was ₹1,008 crore and the Ebitda margin was 20.6%.

Tata Steel’s ongoing brownfield expansion at Kalinganag­ar in Odisha is on schedule and work has started on the Cold Rolling Complex “which will help in enriching our product mix and optimising cashflows,” the company said.

During the third quarter, the company and Thyssenkru­pp AG “worked together to secure the required regulatory approvals for the proposed 50:50 joint venture in Europe. The European Commission phase II merger control review is currently underway”, the company said.

The acquisitio­n process of Usha Martin’s steel business is being carried out through Tata Sponge Iron Ltd, a subsidiary of Tata Steel, and will be completed by the fourth quarter of FY19.

Last month, Tata Steel announced that it had agreed to sell 70% stake of its South-East Asian operating entities for $327 million to China’s state-owned HBIS Group.

The transactio­n is expected to be completed in the first quarter of FY20, the company said and the proceeds will be used for deleveragi­ng.

 ??  ?? TV Narendran, CEO, Tata Steel.
TV Narendran, CEO, Tata Steel.

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