JSW Steel has reported a 48 per cent fall in the March quarter net profit at Rs 1,495 crore against Rs 2,879 crore logged in the same period last year due to lower realisation and high cost of operations.

Gross sales of the company were up seven per cent at Rs 21,837 crore (Rs 20,442 crore).

The company has announced a dividend of Rs 4.10 per equity share for the year ended March 31. It will also pay a dividend of 0.01 per cent per share on the 48,54,14,604 cumulative redeemable preference shares.

The total outflow on account of equity dividend, including corporate tax will be Rs 1,195 crore against Rs 933 crore paid last fiscal.

Sales during the quarter was almost flat at 4.29 million tonnes (mt) against 4.22 mt logged in the same quarter last year. Crude steel output was down three per cent at 4.17 mt due to a planned shut-down at Dolvi works.

With international demand and prices improving, the company has shifted its focus to the overseas markets and liquidated the accumulated stocks built at the end of December quarter.

This resulted in exports accounting for 22 per cent of overall sales during the quarter, it said.

Despite liquidating its previous quarter stock, the company has an inventory of Rs 1,694 crore (Rs 58 crore) as of the March quarter-end.

Fresh capex

JSW Steel has announced plans to invest Rs 5,200 crore in key downstream and cost-saving projects.

It will invest Rs 1,000 crore in a downstream project, Rs 2,200 crore in cost saving projects at both Dolvi and Vijayanagar, besides Rs 2,000 crore in mining.

With the fresh investments announced, the company will be implementing a cumulative capital expenditure of Rs 48,715 crore till FY'21.

The company had invested Rs 14,371 crore in the last two years and plans to spend about Rs 34,300 crore over the next two years, with some spillover to FY'22, it said.

The planned projects will be funded through a mix of debt and internal accruals.

On a standalone basis, JSW Steel’s net profit was down 22 per cent at Rs 1,745 crore, against Rs 2,235 crore logged in the same period last year, due to lower realisation and high inventory.

Gross sales of the company were down at Rs 19,264 crore (Rs 19,346 crore).

The company expects to produce 16.95 mt (16.69 mt) and sell 16 mt (15.76 mt), translating into a moderate growth of 1.5 per cent in both sales and production.