Tata Steel reported a strong set of earnings for the quarter ended September 30 on Thursday with the consolidated profit after tax (PAT) rising to Rs 12,548 crore, up 7.5x from Rs 1,665 in the corresponding quarter last year. The PAT beat Street expectations as analysts had expected the figure to be between Rs 11,000 crore and Rs 12,000 crore.

The steel maker’s consolidated revenue from operations came in at Rs 60,283 crore for the July to September period of 2021 against Rs 38,940 for the same period the previous year.

Tata Steel’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) was much higher than expected and was at the highest ever quarterly level. It came in at Rs 16,618 crore against the poll expectations of around Rs 800 crore.

The company said its steel production increased by 2 percent on quarter on quarter basis and 4 percent on YoY basis despite planned maintenance shutdowns. “Overall deliveries increased 11% QoQ despite market demand contraction amidst seasonal weakness; deliveries were lower

9%YoY due to higher opening stock in 2QFY21 enabling stock liquidation in 2QFY21,” it added.

The gross debt decreased to Rs 78,163 crore with repayments of Rs 11,424 crore in the first half of FY22 and the net debt for the period declined to Rs.68,860 crore.

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T V Narendran, the chief executive officer and managing director, said, Tata Steel has delivered strong results across key geographies in the seasonally weaker quarter. “Our steel deliveries in India expanded by 11% despite a contraction in market demand which is a testament to the strength of our franchise,” he added.

The company’s executive director and chief financial officer Koushik Chatterjee said the firm has posted its highest ever underlying quarterly performance with EBIDTA and profit after tax of Rs 16,618 crores and Rs 12,548 crore on the back of strong operating and market performance across all geographies including Europe. This translates into a consolidated EBIDTA margin of 27.6 percent and PAT margin of 20.8 percent for the quarter, he said.

In its presentation, Tata Steel said the business outlook is robust for the second half of FY22 despite volatile raw material prices. “India steel demand is expected to improve supported by government’s push for infrastructure spending and consumer demand with onset of the festive season,” it said.

Tata Steel is among the top steel companies in the world with an annual crude steel capacity of 33 million tonnes per annum.

(Edited by : Kanishka Sarkar)

First Published:Nov 11, 2021 9:00 PM IST