SAIL registers sharp 72% decline in profit at Rs 446.53 cr

State-owned steel major SAIL today reported a steep 71.68% fall in standalone net profit at Rs 446.53 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2013 due to a slew of reasons including fall in sales and rise in cost.

Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL), the largest domestic steel producer, had reported a net profit of Rs 1,576.98 crore in the corresponding quarter of 2011-12.

The company has not published consolidated results for the January-March quarter.

Total income is down 11.20% at Rs 12,330.42 crore for the period under review vis-a-vis Rs 13,885.29 crore in the comparable period of the last fiscal, SAIL said in a filing to BSE.

Expenses at Rs 11,600.18 crore amounted to 93.71% of its total income for the period under review.

During the January-March quarter of FY 2012, SAIL's expenditure was nearly 88% of its total income.

Interest cost also rose over 77% to Rs 214.59 crore during the quarter, though its tax outgo declined over 59% to Rs 294.58 crore.

In a separate statement, SAIL said its performance was in the last quarter of the previous fiscal was hit due to 11% decline in net sales realisation (NSR).

"The sharp decline in NSR of 11% per tonne of steel in Q4 FY 2013 adversely affected the profitability of SAIL, with negative impact of Rs 1,347 crore on account of this factor alone," the company said.

For the year ended March 31, 2013, SAIL's standalone net profit was down 38.74% at Rs 2,170.35 crore.

Its total income declined 3.75% to Rs 44,598.28 crore.

On a consolidated basis, the company reported a 38.46% fall in its net profit at Rs 2,180.52 crore for the last fiscal, while its total income stood at Rs 44,897.61 crore, down 3.15%.

According to the company, it produced 13.4 million tonnes (MT) of steel and operated at 103% of its capacity in the last fiscal, despite challenging market conditions and demand stagnation.

Expressing hope that depressed market conditions will improve with recent measures by the government to facilitate faster clearance of projects, SAIL chairman C S Verma said that in 2013-14, the company would be adding 5 MT additional capacity.

"2013-14 is going to be a landmark in SAIL's journey of nation-building, with new production capacities being added after a gap of around 15 years, when we take up our present capacity of 14 MT to 19 MT by the end of this fiscal," he said.

Shares of the company were trading at Rs 58.95 apiece, down 1.26% during the late afternoon trade on the BSE.