(F.E)
Tata Steel on Friday posted a good set of numbers for the October-December 2021 quarter, beating Street estimates on all fronts. The company’s consolidated net profit surged 139% year-on-year to Rs 9,598 crore on the back of improved realisations, as steel prices continued their upward trajectory. The net profit was ahead of the estimated at Rs 9,018 crore according to Bloomberg’s poll of analysts. The company reported a sharp 45% y-o-y surge in consolidated revenues from operations at Rs 60,783 crore, as improvement in net realisations more than offset the drop in volumes. Analysts had estimated the revenue at Rs 59,679 crore. While the steel production remained flat on a y-o-y basis at 7.76 million tonne, the steel deliveries dipped 5.4% y-o-y to 7.01 million tonne.
Ebitda (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) was up 64% y-o-y to Rs 15,853 crore. The company posted strong operating cash flows in the quarter despite a significant surge in international coal prices and increased working capital requirements, it said in a statement. Consequently, the operating margins increased 300 basis points to 26% during the quarter ended December 31, 2021. Commenting on the company’s performance, T V Narendran, chief executive officer and managing director said, “India steel demand has begun to improve on the back of continued economic recovery as the third wave of Covid begins to ebb. We continue to drive value accretive growth in our chosen segments and our performance in key segments such as auto was robust despite the sector being impacted by the semiconductor shortage. Our European operations continue to perform underpinned by strong improvement in realisations.”
