The country’s biggest steel wire rope manufacturer Usha Martin on Thursday said its margins are still under pressure this fiscal but thanks to captive resources, it managed to reverse the losing streak of 2011-12.
Usha Martin’s consolidated PAT at Rs 22.85 crore in Q2, showed a marked improvement against net loss of Rs 62.69 crore in the Q2 of last financial year. The company reported H1FY13 profit at Rs 26.32 crore against a net loss of Rs 37.02 crore in H1FY12.
Rajeev Jhawar, MD, said in H1, consolidated EBIDTA margin had been at 17.8 per cent and felt that the same trend was likely to continue in the second half.
But use of captive raw materials – iron ore and thermal coal – came handy for controlling costs. Coal production was up 138 per cent and iron ore output went up 30 per cent in its mines in Jharkhand.
jayanta.mallick@thehindu.co.in