SAIL posts Rs 554 cr profit for Q2 as income improves

New Delhi: The country's largest steel maker SAIL Friday posted a standalone profit of Rs 553.69 crore for the July-September quarter of 2018-19 driven by an impressive growth in income.

The steel PSU had posted a standalone loss of Rs 539.06 crore in the July-September period of the previous fiscal.

The standalone income during the second quarter increased by 23.1 per cent to Rs 16,832.37 crore, compared to Rs 13,666.05 crore in the year-ago period, according to a regulatory filing by SAIL.

Total expenses increased to Rs 15,950.21 crore during the September quarter from Rs 14,108.84 in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal.

SAIL Chairman Anil Kumar Chaudhary said, "Raising volumes, targeting to operate at rated capacities and focussing to meet the requirement of the railways in terms of rails and wheels and axles are our foremost priorities, along with upholding safety practices at the core."

"The domestic steel market is offering a positive platform; besides, we must also de-risk our operations from any externalities by being prepared with volumes, value additions and quality products," he said.

SAIL's focus on approaching the market and customers with new products and sales force effectiveness will surely help catering the market requirements more adequately, he added.

Showing overall improvements including operational performance, the EBITDA for the second quarter of FY2018-19 was at Rs 2,473.54 crore, a growth of 156 per cent over the same period last year which was Rs 966.56 crore, SAIL said.

The numbers indicate a fast recovery in the company's profitability, operational performance and a collective effort towards driving the full advantage of modernisation and expansion, it added.

Ramping up production from new units, achieving the production and techno-economic targets remain the top priority of the company, it said.

In the second quarter of this fiscal, the company's saleable steel production stood at 3.537 million tonnes.

In the first half of the ongoing fiscal, the company's saleable steel production was at 7.151 MT, registering an increase of 4.2 per cent over the corresponding period of the last fiscal.