The Hindu Business Line : Visa Steel full-year PAT doubles

Visa Steel Ltd has clocked a 52.6 per cent growth in turnover in 2005-06 over the previous year. The company's turnover went up from Rs 252 crore in 2004-05 to Rs 385 crore in 2005-06. The company's profit before tax went up from Rs 11.9 crore in 2004-05 to Rs 20 crore in 2005-06 even as its profit after tax stood at Rs 12.5 crore in 2005-06, up from Rs 6.6 crore in 2004-05.

According to Mr V. Saran, Chairman of Visa Steel, the growth in the company's revenue and profits in 2005-06 was driven by the company's pig iron business. The blast furnace at the company's plant located at Kalinganagar in Orissa was commissioned in March 2005. Production of hot metal during 2005-06 stood at nearly 152,000 tonnes. In the current fiscal, the targeted hot metal production has been pegged at 200,000 tonnes.

coke oven plant

Mr Saran said that a part of the company's 400,000 t.p.a. stamp charged coke oven plant had been commissioned and revenue growth from the company's coke business would be reflected in the financial year 2006-07. While 100,000 tonnes has been commissioned in the first phase earlier in March this year, the balance 300,000 tonnes would be commissioned in phases by September 2006.

Visa Steel, which is setting up an integrated special and stainless steel plant at Kalinganagar in Orissa, has firmed up plans for backward integration into iron ore, chrome ore and coal to "de-risk itself from volatility in raw material prices".

Necessary applications in this regard have been made to the appropriate authorities. Stainless steel production at the Kalinganagar plant is slated to take off by December 2007.

According to Mr Saran, the demand for steel and special steels in India would continue to go up on account of demand from the infrastructure sector and the automobile and auto components sector. Steel prices, too, would continue to remain firm.

"The production in India has to keep pace with the demand. If prices are not remunerative, no investment will come in either for brown field projects or for green field projects," he said.