JSPL Q4 net down 28% on higher depreciation, lower sales

Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) clocked 28% dip in consolidated net profit of Rs 402.5 crore for the January-March quarter due to higher depreciation and interest as well as lower sales.

"Net profit is down because of a variety of reasons such as higher depreciation and interest and a planned shutdown in our Raigarh plant," JSPL Managing Director and CEO Ravi Uppal said.

The company had clocked Rs 562 crore net profit for the fourth quarter of the previous fiscal, 2012-13.

On a consolidated basis, JSPL's interest and depreciation aggregated to Rs 3,330 crore in Q4, 2013-14, compared to Rs 2,397 crore in the previous fiscal.

The planned shutdown at the Raigarh plant of the company also impacted the production and resultant sales amounting to Rs 550-600 crore for the quarter alone.

JSPL reported 16% dip in sales at 7.66 lakh tonnes (LT), compared to 9.08 LT a year earlier.

"Had there been no shutdown, our sales would have gone up by Rs 550-600 crore," Uppal said, adding that this impacted company's turnover that dipped by 5% to Rs 5,103 crore from Rs 5,377 crore. The Raigarh facility has 3 mtpa capacity.

On the year-on-year basis, JSPL's turnover was up by just 1% at Rs 20,004 crore, from Rs 19,807 crore. Its net profit, however, was down by 34% at Rs 1,910 crore.

Dubbing the year as a "defining" one for the company in which its steel-making capacity went up to 7.5 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) from 3 mtpa, Uppal said company's revenues would catch up soon.

JSPL has a Rs 35,000 crore consolidated debt and it hopes to bring it down by Rs 5,000 crore from internal accruals in the current fiscal. The debt-equity ratio of the company now stands at 1.4:1 on consolidated basis.

The company clocked 160% rise in exports during the 2013-14 fiscal and hopes to maintain the momentum in the current fiscal.