SAIL net profit jumps 31% to Rs 3,470 crore in fourth quarter

Total expenses during the quarter were at Rs 18,829 crore, as against Rs 11,682 crore the year before. SAIL reduced its finance costs by around 40% during the quarter to Rs 540 crore.

Steel Authority of India (SAIL) on Friday reported a 31% rise in consolidated net profit at Rs 3,470 crore for the January-March quarter of the 2020-21 fiscal on higher margins.

The company had clocked a net profit of Rs 2,648 crore in the January-March period of the last fiscal, it said in a regulatory filing. During the quarter under review, the company’s total income rose to Rs 23,533 crore, up 42% from Rs 16,575 crore in the year-ago period.

Total expenses during the quarter were at Rs 18,829 crore, as against Rs 11,682 crore the year before. SAIL reduced its finance costs by around 40% during the quarter to Rs 540 crore.

SAIL said in a statement that in the January-March quarter, it clocked its highest-ever quarterly hot metal, crude steel and saleable steel production of 4.98 million tonne (MT), 4.56 MT and 4.42 MT, respectively — registering 8%, 6% and 11% growth, respectively over the corresponding period last fiscal.

For the entire 2020-21 fiscal, SAIL’s net profit rose to Rs 4,148 crore from Rs 2,121 crore a year earlier. Its revenue from operations rose to Rs 69,114 crore from Rs 61,664 crore.

During 2020-21, SAIL pruned its net debt by Rs 16,131 crore to Rs 35,350 crore as on March 31, 2021. The company clocked its best-ever annual sales in 2020-21 at 14.94 MT, a growth of 5% over the previous year.