JSW Steel beats expectations, records 140% surge in third-quarter profit

India's JSW Steel Ltd reported a 140 per cent surge in third-quarter profit on Wednesday, beating analyst expectations, as the steelmaker marked its highest ever quarterly steel sales.

Net profit for the quarter ended December 31 rose to 17.53 billion rupees ($275.39 million) from 7.30 billion rupees a year earlier, the country's biggest steel producer said in a statement. 

That was above the average estimate of 11.26 billion rupees, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Total revenue from operations for the quarter jumped 17 per cent to 178.61 billion rupees, with steel sales rising 12 per cent to 4.03 million tonnes.

JSW Steel's third quarter crude steel production was up 7 per cent to an all-time high of 4.11 million tons.

Shares of the Mumbai-based company closed 0.3 per cent higher while the NSE index fell 0.2 per cent.

($1 = 63.655 rupees)