Tata Steel swings to profit in Q1 at Rs 921 cr against loss of Rs 3,183 cr last fiscal

Tata Steel returned to profit in the first quarter of this year after a loss a year ago, helped by the ramp up of its Kalinganagar plant in Odisha. Revenue in the quarter jumped 19 percent, aided by increased capacity in India and Tata’s restructuring efforts in Europe, said Koushik Chatterjee, group executive director (Finance and Corporate). Consolidated revenue from operations during April-June was at Rs 30,973 crore, registering an increase of 19 percent. The steelmaker’s net profit came in at Rs 921 crore in the quarter ended 30 June on the back of higher revenue from operations, compared to a loss of Rs 3,183 crore a year earlier. It said it expected to conclude a deal with the British regulator “shortly” to allow it to cut benefits for its 15 billion pound UK pension scheme. The scheme is the main stumbling block in Tata’s efforts to merge its European operation’s with Germany’s Thyssenkrupp. [caption id=“attachment_2702870” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Reuters[/caption] In the June-quarter of last year, Tata Steel registered a loss of Rs 3296 crore related to the sale of its long products business in Britain to Greybull Capital in May 2016. Analysts on average had expected a net profit of Rs 1043 crore, according to Thomson Reuters data. The company said total steel deliveries in the first quarter were up about 9 percent, with domestic deliveries accounting for 47 percent of the total. Shares of Tata Steel on Tuesday ended with nearly 3 percent gains, adding Rs 1,531 crore to its market valuation, after the company returned to profit in the quarter ended June 2017. The company’s market valuation went up by Rs 1,530.62 crore to Rs 59,802.62 crore. In terms of equity volume, 14.74 lakh shares of the company were traded on the BSE and over 2 crore shares on the NSE during the day. “Our sales were up by 28 percent on a y-o-y basis as the smooth ramp-up of our Kalinganagar facility helped us increase our volumes and increase our market share,” T V Narendran, Managing Director, Tata Steel India and South East Asia, said in a statement. (With inputs from agencies)