SAIL profit down 26% at Rs 334 cr; steel output up 10%

New Delhi: State-owned steel maker SAIL today reported 26 percent fall in net profit to Rs 334 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2014-15. The country’s largest steel producer had posted net profit of Rs 453 crore in the January-March quarter of the 2013-14 fiscal.[caption id=“attachment_2122881” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Falling profits. Reuters[/caption] SAIL said in a BSE filing that its total income declined 13 per cent to Rs 11,684 crore in the January-March quarter of the last fiscal, from Rs 13,684 crore in the year-ago period, it added. On the fall in net profit, SAIL chairman and managing director CS Verma told PTI: “If you look at results SAIL’s performance in the fourth quarter has been market leading. The profits declined due to a gain of Rs 1,056 crore in 2013-14 fiscal that the firm got by winning a commercial dispute.” In 2013-14, the firm’s profit included receipt of Rs 1,056 crore from miner Vale, Australia on account of a favourable arbitration/court award in a commercial dispute. SAIL’s profit and sales margins are best compared to the results for the last quarter, Verma said. “At a time when market conditions have been challenging, we maintained our output and braved headwinds such as cheap imports among others to give a market leading performance,” Verma said. SAIL stock closed flat at Rs 65.90 on the BSE. SAIL’s crude steel production grew by 10 per cent to 3.72 million tonnes (MT) in the fourth quarter of last fiscal from 3.37 MT in the same quarter of 2013-14, Verma said. Hot metal production grew by 16 per cent to 4.22 MT from 3.63 MT and saleable steel output rose by 6 percent to 3.44 MT from 3.42 MT during the reported quarter, he added. In a separate filing, the Steel Authority of India Ltd said its Board has recommended a final dividend of Rs 0.25 per share, in addition to an interim dividend of Rs 1.75 per share already paid for the financial year 2014-15 taking the total dividend to Rs 2 per share. For the entire 2014-15 fiscal, SAIL’s net profit fell by 20 per cent to Rs 2,093 crore, from Rs 2,616 crore in 2013-14 fiscal. Its total income for the year declined marginally to Rs 46,695 crore, from Rs 47,513 crore. SAIL’s crude steel production grew by 2 per cent to 13.91 MT in 2014-15 fiscal, from 13.58 MT in 2013-14. Hot metal production grew by 7 per cent to 15.41 MT from 14.45 MT and saleable steel output was almost flat at 12.84 MT from 12.88 MT during the same period. Going ahead, Verma said: “After increasing our hot metal capacity to 19.4 MT from 14 MT, SAIL is focused on stabilising and consolidating its operations from the modernised units.” This comes at an opportune time when a positive environment is created by the growth oriented approach of the government, he added. PTI