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Shares of Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) rose on Friday despite the company reporting a net loss higher than what the street anticipated.

The company reported a net loss of Rs 330 crore for the September quarter. A CNBC-TV18 poll expected the net loss to be worth Rs 220 crore.

However, SAIL's revenue turned out to be better than the poll due to volumes, which was better than feared. Consolidated revenue for the quarter stood at Rs 26,642 crore, although lower year-on-year, but was better than estimates of Rs 25,488 crore.

Sales volumes for the quarter declined 2 percent from last year to 4.21 MT. The street was working with a figure of 4.05 MT.

The company's calculated EBITDA per tonne fell 90 percent from last year to Rs 1,746 from Rs 17,790 during the same period last year. Even on a sequential basis, realisations declined 18 percent, a sharper drop than expectations.

Expenses during the quarter saw a sharp rise to Rs 27,200.79 crore, up 27.7 percent from the year-ago period.

SAIL attributed the weak operational performance to higher prices of imported coal and slowing demand for steel across economies. The company's net debt also rose to Rs 30,000 crore at the end of the September quarter.

Higher finance costs also contributed to the weak performance. Finance costs rose 15 percent from last year and 35 percent when compared to the June quarter.

SAIL also announced on Thursday that its standalone crude steel production fell to 4.30 million tonnes in the September quarter from 4.47 million tonnes last year.

Shares of SAIL gained as much as 3.7 percent in early trade and are currently trading 2.2 percent higher at Rs 86.05.