Tata Steel Q3 profit jumps over 54% to Rs 1,753 crore

New Delhi: Tata Steel on Friday reported a 54.33 per cent jump in consolidated net profit to Rs 1,753.07 crore during the quarter ended on December 31, 2019, helped by higher income.

The company had posted a net profit of Rs 1,135.92-crore for the same quarter a year ago, according to a regulatory filing.

Total income on consolidated basis jumped to Rs 41,431.37 crore during October-December 2018, from Rs 33,672.48 crore in the year-ago quarter, the company said.

Its total expenses during the said quarter were at Rs 38,362.03 crore as against Rs 30,552.03 crore in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.

In a statement, Tata Steel CEO and Managing Director T V Narendran said, "Tata Steel is committed to growing its India footprint while focusing on benchmark operational performance, superior market presence, strong customer relationships and sustainability."

Despite a sharp drop in international steel prices, the company was able to maintain overall realizations and increased volumes significantly in India, he said.

The integration of Tata Steel BSL continues and the company's 5 MTPA expansion at Tata Steel Kalinganagar is also making good progress.

"We are also looking forward to enhancing our long products and downstream capability through the acquisition of the 1 MTPA steel business of Usha Martin," Narendran said.

He further said that the phase II review of the Tata Steel Europe-ThyssenKrupp JV is ongoing and "we are closely working with the european commission to facilitate the same."

Koushik Chatterjee, Executive Director and CFO of Tata Steel said: "The short-term finance taken for Tata Steel BSL acquisition has been refinanced with long-term loans of Rs 15,500 crore."

During the quarter under review, he said, Tata Steel Group generated operating cash flows of Rs 4,150 crore and the liquidity position of the group remains strong at Rs 19,320 crore, including Rs 8,549 crores of cash and cash equivalents.

On a standalone basis, Tata Steel reported a sharp 83.5 jump in net profit to Rs 2,456.09 crore in the third quarter of FY2019 from Rs 1,338.09 crore in the year ago quarter.

Total standalone income increased by 10 per cent to Rs 17,759.85 crore in October-December 2018 from Rs 15,777.96 crore in the year-ago quarter.

Shares of the company on Friday ended 3.70 per cent down at Rs 469.55 apiece on BSE.