Industrialist Sajjan Jindal-led JSW Steel has recorded a 64.5% fall in net profit at Rs1,299 crore for the quarter ended March 31, falling below street estimates, on a rise in expenses and raw material prices.
In comparison, the steelmaker had posted a net profit of Rs 3,664 crore for the same quarter of the previous fiscal. During the reporting quarter, the steel manufacturer’s revenue fell 1.5% to Rs 46,269 crore from Rs 46,962 crore recorded in the same period of year-ago fiscal, JSW Steel said in a statement.
The firm’s Ebitda fell 22.9% to Rs 6,124 crore from Rs 7,939 crore earlier.
JSW Steel’s board also recommended a dividend of Rs 7.30 per share for FY24, entailing a total outflow of Rs 1785 crore.
The firms’ net profit and revenue fell below street expectations. A consensus estimate by Bloomberg analysts was expecting JSW Steel to post a net profit of Rs 1,661 crore on revenues of Rs 44,676 crore and EBITDA of Rs 6,155 crore.
During the period under review, the firm’s expenses rose to Rs 44,401 crore (Rs 43,170 crore a year ago period), while cost of raw materials consumed rose to Rs 24,541 crore (Rs 23,905 crore) and other expenses rose to Rs 7,197 crore (Rs 6,653 crore).
JSW Steel’s consolidated crude steel production for the quarter fell 3% to 6.79 million tonnes from year-ago period, while capacity utilisation at Indian operations fell 93% to 94% from Q3, it said.
As of March 31, the firm’s net debt was at Rs 73,916 crore, lower by Rs 5,305 crore from December 31, 2023, mostly due to healthy cash generation, release of working capital and calibrated capex.
The steel sales for the quarter stood at 6.73 million tonnes, up by 12% QoQ and 3% YoY. Domestic sales at 5.16 million tonnes were lower by 2% QoQ and by 5% YoY on elevated imports.
While the total sales volumes rose QoQ, the original equipment manufacturers and industrial volumes fell by 11% QoQ. Retail sales rose QoQ by 16% and were lower by 3% YoY.
JSW Steel’s board also approved acquisition of Minas de Revuboe Limitada (MDR), which owns a coking coal mine in the Moatize Basin of Tete Province in Mozambique, for $73.75 million.
This is a step towards backward integration for captive sourcing of coking coal, it said, adding MDR has premium hard coking coal projects globally and reserves in excess of 800 million tonnes.
On Friday, JSW Steel’s share prices ended up 2.36% at Rs 907.30 on the BSE. It was the second-best performer among 30 Sensex stocks.
