Tata Steel on Friday said its net profit attributable to promoters for the October-December quarter grew 723%— nearly eightfold—to Rs 2,689 crore, compared with Rs 327 crore in the year-ago period. The performance was driven by strong domestic demand, lower raw material and inventory costs and reduced finance costs.
The country’s oldest steelmaker beat Bloomberg estimates of Rs 2,528 crore for the quarter. Revenue, however, came behind Bloomberg estimates of Rs 57,440 crore—at Rs 57,002 crore—though it rose 6.3% year on year (YoY).
“Our global operating environment continues to be shaped by tariffs, geopolitical shifts and policy divergence. Steel markets were impacted by elevated finished steel exports from China, which at 119 million tonnes (mt), surpassed the 2015 peak. Against this backdrop, Tata Steel delivered a strong performance in this quarter, with India’s crude steel production rising 12% while deliveries grew faster at 14% YoY, surpassing the 6-mt mark in a quarter for the first time,” Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director T V Narendran said in a statement.
Earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) rose 39% year-on-year to Rs 8,200 crore, higher than Bloomberg estimates of Rs 7,989 crore. The Ebitda margin stood at 14.4%, while the profit-after-tax (PAT) margin was 4.7%.
Cost Efficiency vs. Global Headwinds
The reported Ebitda per tonne was Rs 10,116 compared to Rs 11,518 in Q2FY26 and Rs 7,759 in Q3FY25.
“Our cost transformation programme, focused on multiple levers including operating key performance indicators, supply chain efficiencies and procurement, has delivered a savings of around Rs 3,000 crore for the quarter and around Rs 8,600 crore for the first nine months of the current financial year,” Chief Financial Officer Koushik Chatterjee said.
The steelmaker clocked 8.21 mt in deliveries for the third quarter compared to 7.72 mt in the same quarter a year ago, and 7.91 mt in the preceding quarter.
Steel production for the quarter stood at 8.39 mt, up from 7.77 mt YoY, and 7.73 mt in the previous quarter.
In December 2025, Tata Steel announced long-term growth plans for its India business, focusing on increasing production, expanding higher-value steel products, securing raw materials and infrastructure, and developing cleaner steel-making technologies. As part of this strategy, it increased its stake in its colour-coated steel business and acquired majority control in Thriveni Pellets and Brahmani River Pellets, the steelmaker said.
Geography-wise performance
Tata Steel’s India revenues stood at Rs 35,725 crore, while Ebitda was Rs 8,291 crore, translating into an Ebitda margin of 24%. Crude steel production was 6.34 mt and deliveries for the quarter came in at 6.04 mt, led by improved production. Ebitda per ton for India declined sequentially to Rs 13,735 as compared to Rs 15,580 per tonne in the previous quarter.
Revenues from UK operations stood at £468 million for the quarter, with an Ebitda loss of £63 million as against a loss of £66 million in Q2FY26. Deliveries stood at 0.52 mt and were impacted by subdued demand and steady imports.
Revenues from Netherlands operations came in at €1,354 million for the quarter and Ebitda was €55 million compared to €92 million in the previous quarter. Liquid steel production stood at 1.68 mt and deliveries were 1.4 mt.
Capital expenditure during the quarter stood at Rs 3,291 crore, taking the expenditure for the nine months ended December 31 to Rs 10,370 crore. Net debt at the end of the December quarter was Rs 81, 834 crore, down Rs 5,206 crore sequentially.