The Hindu Business Line : JSW Steel net jumps 151% to Rs 427 cr

Mr Sajjan Jindal (left), Vice-Chairman & Managing Director, JSW Steel Ltd, and Mr Seshagiri Rao, Director (Finance), at a press conference in Mumbai on Tuesday. —

Our Bureau

Mumbai, July 24 JSW Steel Ltd reported a 151 per cent rise in net profit for the quarter ended June 30, 2007 at Rs 427.78 crore, against Rs 170. 30 crore in the same period last year.

Net sales rose 37.34 per cent to Rs 2,190.72 crore for the quarter (Rs 1,596.33 crore).

The company recorded Rs 136.48 crore as other income, which includes foreign exchange gains of Rs 60.14 crore under settlement/ restatement of foreign currency denominated liabilities relating to acquisition of fixed assets, a Rs 18.75-crore insurance claim credited for loss of profits attributable to shutdown of hot metal furnace in the first half of April and Rs 53 crore on account of foreign exchange gain in operational revenue.

EBITA has grown 85 per cent to Rs 877.77 crore against Rs 474.51 crore.

Mr Sajjan Jindal, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, said the company had achieved a significant crude steel production despite a shutdown in hot metal furnaces totalling 32 days.

Crude steel production was up 26.25 per cent at 0.707 mt against 0.560 mt recorded in the previous quarter. HR coils production was also up 156 per cent at 0.638 mt against 0.249 mt.

Jindal Steel plans to acquire a 300 MW power plant from its group concern JSW Energy to meet incremental power needs on expansion. It already has captive plants aggregating 230 MW.

The company is eligible for 7,673,254 Certified Emission Reductions (CERs) for the period from April 2005 to March 2015 and had obtained the approval for issuance of 1,364,852 CERs for the period April 2005 to December 2006.

Mr Jindal said global steel production grew at 8.4 per cent in the first half of 2007, led by 17.8 per cent growth in China. However, recent Chinese Government curbs to restrict exports were expected to bring about a slowdown in its exports.

The global demand continued to be buoyant. Prices were expected to be stable and might pick up from the third quarter of this fiscal.