A drop in standalone revenue notwithstanding, Naveen Jindal-owned Jindal Steel & Power Ltd (JSPL) reported a turnaround in operations with the company reporting a net profit of ₹1,109 crore for the quarter ending September 30, 2023. The steel-maker, amongst the top five in the country, had reported a loss of ₹473 crore in the year-ago-period.
Gross revenue during the period under review, a seasonally-weak quarter, stood at ₹13,953 crore, down 8 per cent y-o-y.
The adjusted EBITDA stood at ₹2,244 crore (up 57 per cent y-o-y); including an adjusted for one-off forex gains of ₹69 crore.
On a consolidated basis, JSPL reported a PAT of ₹1,390 crore, up 534 per cent y-o-y; while adjusted EBITDA stood at ₹2,213 crore (up 19 per cent y-o-y).
Lower costs
“Strong performance was driven by sharp reduction in costs which offset seasonally-weak pricing environment during the quarter. The production and sales stood at 1.90 mt (up 4 per cent y-o-y) and 2.01 mt (flat y-o-y), respectively,” the company said in a statement. The company also saw a substantial fall in tax liabilities, with current tax for the quarter being at ₹13.82 crore as against ₹121.42 crore in the year-ago-period.
The consolidated gross revenue for the August-September period was ₹14,128 crore (down 9 per cent y-o-y).
The share of exports increased to 13 per cent in Q2FY24 (12 per cent).
JSPL’s net debt stood at ₹7,313 crore as on September 30 (₹6,812 crore). Net debt to EBITDA stood at 0.77x as on September 30.
Commercial mining
During the quarter under review, commercial coal mining operations began at the Gare Palma IV/6. According to Bimlendra Jha, Managing Director, JSPL, shipments from Gare Palma IV/6 are already being received at Raigarh.
“Our quarterly results are significantly up year on year with sales volumes sustained in a traditionally-weak quarter. We expect the demand to be robust in the second half of the current fiscal, as India continues to march to a different drumbeat,” he said.
Capex for the quarter was ₹1,836 crore, largely driven by the expansion projects in India.
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