State-owned Steel Authority of India (SAIL) shares dropped on Friday after its March quarter financial results missed the street estimates. The steelmaker reported total revenue of Rs 29,131 crore for the March quarter, which was lower than the poll estimate of Rs 29,969 crore. The topline declined by 5 percent year-on-year compared to Rs 30,759 crore in the corresponding quarter a year ago.

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The company's earnings before interest tax depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) stood at Rs 2,924 crore as against the poll estimate of Rs 3,458 crore for the quarter. EBITDA margin at 10.04 percent also missed expectations of 11.5 percent due to higher employee benefit expenses.

The company had employee benefit expenses of Rs 3,439 crore in the March quarter, against Rs 3,035 crore in the year-ago period and Rs 2,777 crore in the December quarter.

Higher raw material costs and finance costs also squeezed the company's margin. Finance costs stood at Rs 517 crore from Rs 440 crore during the same period last year.

The company's net profit of Rs 1,159 crore, also missed estimates of Rs 1,295 crore.

The steelmaker’s borrowings as per IndAS norms stood at Rs 30,773 crore in the March quarter as against Rs 33,779 crore in the December quarter.

SAIL shares are trading 1.2 percent lower at Rs 81.20.