JSW Steel Q4 profit triples to Rs 1,008 crore against Rs 300 cr in FY16

JSW Steel Ltd, India’s biggest steelmaker by capacity, said its fourth-quarter profit more than tripled, helped by higher steel prices and output and government support for local mills. Consolidated profit was at Rs 1,008.5 crore for the fourth quarter ended 31 March, 2017 against Rs 300.6 crore in the year-ago period, JSW Steel said in a BSE filing.

The consolidated total income increased to Rs 17,973.06 crore, over Rs 11,815.21 crore in the corresponding quarter of FY16. The total expenses also increased to Rs 16,577.80 crore, over Rs 11,506.7 crore in the year-ago period.

The results are another sign of a marked pickup in India’s steel sector, which had been hit by a global slowdown amid excess capacity.

JSW said its outlook was improving.

“Steel demand is expected to benefit from rising infrastructure spend and improving consumer demand in FY2018,” JSW said in a statement.

Earlier this month, the cabinet approved a proposal to make local steel mandatory in government infrastructure projects.

The slowdown in the steel sector prompted the government to step in last year to protect the domestic industry with import curbs and other measures.

Commenting on the result, JSW Steel said that the “current quarter was marked by headwinds of a weak steel demand in the domestic market amid poor liquidity post- demonetisation as well as surge in raw material prices.”

In this background, the company strategically enhanced export sales to offset domestic slowdown, with continued focus on enriching the product mix.

“The company has recorded its highest ever crude steel production for the quarter at 4.10 million tonnes (MT), up 28 percent Y-o-Y and 6 percent Q-o-Q. It also achieved the highest ever quarterly sales volume of 3.96 million tonnes growing by 20 percent Y-o-Y and 9 percent Q-o-Q,” it said.