Q1 turnover up by 11% at Rs 6,265 crore
Saleable steel production higher by 19%
Improving techno-economic parameters. ( viz. blast furnace productivity up by 10%)
Coming close on the heels of announcing the best ever annual profit for the just concluded financial year, Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) achieved yet another record breaking performance for the first quarter with the profit before tax (PBT) surging to the level of 1,701 crore, recording a growth of 41 % over the corresponding period last year. SAILÔÇÖs financial results were taken on record by the companyÔÇÖs board of directors this morning.
The companyÔÇÖs upward trend in financial performance is attributed to improvement in production and techno-economic parameters.
The companyÔÇÖs profit after tax (PAT) at Rs 1,123 crore grew marginally as compared to Q1 of the previous year. This was because of significantly higher tax outgo which soared to a level of Rs 578 crore against 94 crore during the corresponding period last year (CPLY). Till last year, the public sector steel major was under the ambit of Minimum Alternative Tax (MAT) due to the brought forward losses and unabsorbed depreciation. Having wiped out all the accumulated losses, SAIL has now come under the fold of regular corporate tax.
Continuing its status as a virtual debt free company, SAIL further reduced its interest charges by around Rs 57 crore, achieving a reduction of 30% over April ÔÇô June 2004. The debt-equity ratio for SAIL stood at 0.53 at the end of June 2005 as against 0.58 as on 31 March 2005.
Commenting on the companyÔÇÖs financial results, Mr V.S. Jain, Chairman, SAIL, said, ÔÇ£SAIL has acquired the competence and the strength to withstand downturn as steel industry is cyclical in nature. The company has assumed the right ambience to encash future growth potential, particularly in areas of infrastructure development.ÔÇØ
SAILÔÇÖs surge in profitability also reflected an overall improvement in the companyÔÇÖs physical performance. The production of saleable steel at 2.76 million tonne (MT), recorded a growth of 19% during April-June 2005 over CPLY. The hot metal production increased by 22% to 3.3 MT and the finished steel with 2.2 MT recorded a growth of 13% during the period. The production of special steel from SAILÔÇÖs three speciality steel plants increased by 22 per cent.
The thrust on maximising revenue through value added products enabled SAIL to increase the production of GP/GC sheets by 22%, plates by 17%, HR coils/sheets by 14%, CR coils/sheets by 14%, railway products by 9%, and PET (pipes, electrical steel and tinplates) by 7% during the period.
The production of steel through the energy efficient continuous cast route increased by 4 lakh tonne recording a growth of 11% during April ÔÇô June 2005 over CPLY.
Continuing with its improving trend, SAILÔÇÖs integrated steel plants achieved a reduction of 1.5% in its coke rate, recording a figure of 530 kilogram per tonne of hot metal (kg/thm) during the period. The energy consumption came down to 7.27 giga calories per tonne of crude steel (Gcal/tcs), an improvement of 3% and the blast furnace productivity increased to 1.52 tonne/Cum/day, recording a growth of 10% during the period.
The Cabinet has recently granted approval for IISCOÔÇÖs merger with its parent company, SAIL. The process of merger which has started, would be completed soon and this will further strengthen both SAIL and IISCO in their respective growth plans through inter-plant synergy and resource optimisation