The Hindu Business Line : BSP nine months net seen at Rs 1200 cr

FOR the first nine months of the current financial year, Bhilai Steel Plant has registered a net profit of Rs 1,200 crore, a growth of 300 per cent and a turnover of more than Rs 6,000 crore, marking a growth of 40 per cent.

According to sources in BSP, the most profitable steel plant of Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL), turnover in the first three quarters went up to Rs 6,194 crore from Rs 4,426 crore in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.

BSP officials said that the unit was successful due to a number of reasons. First is the increased profitability of the steel business. Huge volumes are generating huge margins.

"Moreover, the unit has been able to reduce its interest burden. Borrowing costs have come down because SAIL has reduced the overall loan exposure and is also pre-paying high-cost debts," sources said.

Company officials were tight-lipped on disclosing the exact amount of net profit. However, industry sources said it should be around Rs 1,200 crore. Industry experts said BSP has announced that its net profit in the first eight months had crossed the Rs 1,000-crore mark. Hence, the first nine months taken together its net profit will be around Rs 1,200 crore.

Meanwhile, BSP's hot metal production grew 16.8 per cent to 3.77 million tonnes and its crude steel production 15.3 per cent to 3.57 million tonnes. Production of saleable steel increased by 17.1 per cent to 3.067 million tonnes. All these are the best ever production figures of BSP.

Similar highs have also been recorded in the production of rails (604,000 tonnes), heavy structurals (29,000 tonnes), ingots (1.94 million tonnes), billets (1.56 million tonnes) and others.