Growing demand for steel, improved production of value-added products, and various cost cutting measures helped the country’s largest steel manufacturer, Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) post a jump of 24.9% in net profit at Rs 2,376.76 crore in the fourth quarter ended March 31, as compared to Rs 1,901.88 crore during the same quarter last year.
Its revenues were up by 30.4% to Rs 13,855.25 crore, as against Rs 10,623.83 crore last year. For the fiscal year 2007-2008, the steel giant registered a growth of 21.51% in profit after tax at Rs 7,536.78 crore, as against Rs 6,202.29 crore in the preceding fiscal. Revenues, during this period, went up from Rs 35,307.21 crore to Rs 41,517.04 crore in fiscal 2007, a growth of 17.59%.
The board of directors has recommended a final dividend of 18% on paid up equity share capital, in addition to the interim dividend of 19% already paid for the financial year 2007-08, thus taking the total dividend to 37%, subject to the approval of shareholders.
Describing rising steel prices as a cause of concern for the government and the masses, SAIL chairman SK Roongta said prices within the country have risen by 30 to 50% on different grades. “We are conscious of the growing demand-supply mismatch in the steel sector and have decided to produce 1 million tonne more steel in the current year,” he said. SAIL has achieved a record production of 13 million tonne of saleable steel during the last fiscal by ensuring capacity utilisation of 118%. Production of value-added steel went up by 30% to 3.5 million tonne. On the issue of ensuring raw material security for the PSU, Roongta said efforts were on to remove bottlenecks in resolving various issues for securing the Chiria mines in Jharkhand and Rowghat mines in Chhattisgarh.
He pointed out that in the impending negotiations with private mining companies on coking coal, his company would have to follow the international agreed prices of the miners, which are now hovering around $350 a tonne from around $100 a tonne earlier. SAIL requires 16-17 million tonne of coking coal annually to meet its production needs.
As part of its capacity expansion programme, SAIL has placed orders worth over Rs 20,000 crore for its projects in IISCO Steel Plant, Salem Plant, Rourkela, and Durgapur units.