JSW Steel logs Rs 848 crore loss in Sept quarter as steel prices fall

Sajjan Jindal-led JSW Steel on Friday reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 848 crore in the September quarter of the financial year on the back of a steep correction in steel prices. The firm had reported a net profit of Rs 7,170 crore in the corresponding period of the last fiscal year.

Led by an increase in volumes, the firm saw net sales increase by 28.9 per cent at Rs 41,122 crore. Sales stood at Rs 31,909 crore in the same quarter last year.

The results missed estimates as Bloomberg had pegged net income at Rs 298 crore.

Sequentially, revenues during the quarter came in higher. In the April-June quarter, net sales stood at Rs 37,500 crore and net profit at Rs 838 crore.

The company attributed the performance to a fall in the steel spread, as the decline in sales realization was only partly compensated by the reduction in coal and domestic iron ore prices.

One-off items such as NRV (net realizable value) provisions and inventory losses, mark-to-market unrealized loss on outstanding foreign currency loans and payment of export duty on exports also impacted the operating performance, the company said.

The performance of subsidiaries also dragged the consolidated performance. Bhushan Power & Steel reported a loss-after-tax of Rs 340 crore for the quarter (in Q2FY22, it recorded a profit-after-tax (PAT) of Rs 1,443 crore); JSW Steel Coated Products recorded a loss-after-tax of Rs 260 crore (Q2FY22 PAT was at Rs 742 crore) and JSW Steel USA Ohio posted an operating Ebitda loss of $40.25 million for the quarter (Q2FY22 Ebitda was $48.28 million).

On a standalone basis, JSW Steel reported a net loss after tax of Rs 91 crore for the quarter.

The combined crude steel production saw a 3 per cent sequential decline, falling to 5.68 million tonne (mt) during the quarter. The company said that it was mainly due to extended maintenance shutdowns at JISPL, and subdued market conditions in the US.

Pointing to global headwinds, JSW said that following the strong post-Covid recovery, global economic growth has been slowing in 2022, driven by elevated inflation leading to tightening monetary policy actions by central banks globally. Slowing global growth and macro imbalances were a significant headwind, the company said.

In India, JSW said, the government’s infrastructure push, improvement in capacity utilizations, a broad-based revival in credit growth, strong corporate and bank balance sheets, and upbeat consumer and business confidence were factors contributing to steady growth.

JSW said the imposition of export duty on finished steel products in May 2022 made exports unattractive. The company’s exports fell 62 per cent year-on-year and 37 per cent quarter-on-quarter.