Jindal Steel and Power ltd (JSPl) has recorded a 7.43 per cent increase in its net sales for the quarter ending September 30 at Rs 4,949.03 crore vis-a-vis Rs 4,606.93 crore during the corresponding period owing to 32 per cent increase in export sales.
The company, its Managing Director Ravi Uppal told reporters on Wednesday, is now looking at 20 per cent of its revenues from export sales. It is also aiming to prune the steel products inventory to 3.25 lakh tonnes by the end of the current fiscal.
Total expenditure of JSPl stood at Rs 3,960.84 crore and amounted to 80 per cent of its net sales. Besides, its finance costs rose by over 139 per cent to Rs 380.47 crore during the quarter from Rs 158.83 crore in the year-ago period.
The steel business recorded a growth of 8.89 per cent in revenues to Rs 4,135.26 crore. However, revenues from the power business were down 0.58 per cent to Rs 1,080.46 crore in the quarter.
The company meanwhile registered a fall of 49.62 per cent in its net profit for the second quarter at Rs 452.07 crore against Rs 897.28 crore of the corresponding period, owing to flat sales and rise in finance costs and asset depreciation.
“The monsoon quarter was a challenging one.... Price levels (of steel) were down between 12-15 per cent. That had an adverse impact on our profitability. Also, the impact of interest and depreciation burden of investments made in Angul Phase-1 steel plant were there,” Uppal said.
He added that the continuous slump in global steel demand is affecting the industry, but JSPl is hopeful of “better prices” in the coming quarters. The company is expecting a price increase of about Rs 1,500-2,000 per tonne on steel products in the next 6 months.
On the production front, the JSPl MD said the company has completed the steel melting shop in its upcoming plant in Odisha’s Angul and is in the process of stabilising the production.
Installation of remaining units of Angul plant is on track and all of them are expected to be commissioned by the end of next quarter.