New Delhi: JSW Steel reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 462.09 crore for the quarter ended March 31 on the back of increased sales. The company, led by Sajjan Jindal, had posted a net profit of Rs 328.03 crore in the corresponding period of the previous financial year. Net sales in March 2014 quarter were at Rs 14,088.11 crore from Rs 9,851.54 crore a year earlier, JSW Steel said in a filing to the BSE.
The company said the results are not fully comparable with corresponding periods of the previous year as "the Bombay High Court sanctioned a composite scheme of amalgamation ... amongst JSW Steel Ltd, JSW Ispat Steel Ltd...with effect from July 1, 2012... "The certified copy is filed with Registrar of Companies on June 1, 2013. Accordingly, effects of the scheme is considered in the results for the quarter and year ended March 31, 2014," it added. Total expenditure during the quarter rose to Rs 12,637.72 crore.
The total expenses stood at Rs 8,759.67 crore during the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal. On a standalone basis, the company reported a net profit of Rs 801.87 crore and net sales of Rs 12,254.77 crore. In a separate statement, the company said during the quarter it achieved crude steel production of 3.15 million tonnes with consolidated exports of 0.87 MT. It said despite "a challenging operating environment market by muted domestic demand growth," the company achieved 101 per cent of its production and 103 per cent of sales volume guidance for FY'14.
About new projects, it said the company has received necessary approvals to take up brown field expansion at Dolvi plant to enhance capacity from 3.3 MTPA to 5 MTPA with an estimated cost of Rs 3,300 crore to be financed in a debt:equity ratio of 2:1. "Besides, the company intends to ...increase hot metal capacity from 0.9 MTPA to 1.7 MTPA at an estimated cost of Rs 720 crore," it said.
In its outlook, the firm said: "A stable and new government in the Centre will have a sizable task to override the structural impediments, garner business confidence and restructure fiscal space to support investment for securing and sustaining economic growth recovery." It said high elevation, elevated policy rates, depreciating rupee, high volatility, rising NPAs and declining manufacturing among others had resulted in a tough time for India in FY'14. Shares of the company closed at Rs 1,227.55 a scrip, down 0.90 per cent from their previous close on the BSE.
