Tata Steel more than doubles June quarter profit of Rs 2,007 crore despite sales volume decline

Tata Steel’s consolidated net profit more than doubled on-year to Rs 2,007.36 crore in the June quarter helped by reduced losses in its UK unit and as profitability improved for its operations in India. Profit surpassed market estimates.

This helped overshadow a drop in consolidated sales volumes, which fell 3.6% to 7.12 million tonnes for the quarter. In India, the company sold 4.75 million tonnes of steel, a 3.8% decline from a year earlier.

“The G blast furnace relining in Jamshedpur is at an advanced stage of completion and with Kalinganagar ramping up, India volumes are expected to be sequentially higher in the next quarter,” said Koushik Chatterjee, chief financial officer.

For its operations in the UK, revenue fell to Rs 6,096 crore from Rs 6,810 crore a year ago, but loss at an EBITDA level more than halved to Rs 468 crore from Rs 955 crore a year ago. In the Netherlands, the company made an EBITDA of Rs 612 crore for the quarter, up from Rs 453 crore a year ago, while EBITDA made on each tonne of steel rose to Rs 4,080 from Rs 3,075 a year ago.

While the global steel major’s consolidated revenue from operations for the June quarter fell to Rs 53,178 crore from Rs 54,771 crore a year ago, its consolidated earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose 10% on-year to Rs 7,480 crore.

Operating margins stood at 14%, while EBITDA improved to Rs 10,470 per tonne from Rs 9,407 a tonne at a consolidated level. For its operations in India, the adjusted EBITDA made on each tonne of steel rose to Rs 15,760 rupees from Rs 14,236 a year ago, while margins were significantly higher at 24%.“Higher steel realisations offset the decline in volumes across geographies,” said Chatterjee. “Our cost transformation program, focused on multiple levers including operating KPIs, supply chain and procurement, has delivered around Rs 2,900 crores during the quarter.”Tata Steel spent Rs 3,829 crore on capital expenditure during the quarter. Its net debt increased to Rs 84,835 crore as of June-end from Rs 82,579 crore at the end of the March quarter. The net debt stood at Rs 82,162 crore at the end of the June quarter last year.

Tata Steel also announced buying a 26% stake in TP Adarsh, a wholly-owned unit of Tata Power Renewable Energy, for up to Rs 6 crore in one or more tranches.

“The objective of the acquisition is to optimise Tata Steel’s power cost and carbon footprint by replacing grid power with cost effective renewable power,” the company said in a statement. TP Adarsh is yet to commence operations.