Tata Steel Q1 PAT doubles to Rs 19.34 bn YoY, Ebitda at 20-quarter high

Increase in expenses by about Rs 60 billion on year on year basis led to a lower than expected bottom line for Tata Steel

Tata Steel, the country's oldest steel producer, saw it's bottom line more than double as it reported a consolidated net profit at Rs 19.34 billion  for the quarter ended June 30.
 

 In the corresponding period last year, the company had churned a profit of Rs 921 correct.

"Better realisations and improved spreads lent firm support to the bottom line of the company," Koushik Chatterjee, Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer told reporters at the earnings conference held here.

Tata Steel's top line in the period under review stood at Rs 378.33 billion, up 22 per cent from same period last year on the back of improved deliveries, realisations and better performance across geographies.

"The auto and branded products showed good growth during the quarter which helped us have a strong top line," said TV Narendran, CEO and Managing Director of Tata Steel.

As per Bloomberg estimates, the top line of the company was seen at Rs 359.23 billion, while net profit was at Rs 27 billion.

Increase in expenses by about Rs 60 billion on year on year basis led to a lower than expected bottom line for the company.

"Though the other expenses segment looks significantly higher compare to last year due to some reversals there is no abnormal increase in any of the expenses components. With rise in revenue, costs are bound to go up," explained Chatterjee.

On a consolidated basis, the company Ebitda stood at Rs 65.59 billion in the June quarter as against Rs 49.39 billion in the same period last year. The 31 per cent Ebitda margin of Tata Steel India margin was the highest in 20 quarters, said Narendran. 

Going ahead, the company expects underlying steel demand to be strong, particularly in India. However, the rising trade tensions and the impact on the global economic momentum is a cause of concern, said Narendran.

As on June 30, the company's consolidated gross debt is about Rs 1,000 billion as Bhushan Steel acquisition increased debt by Rs 220 billion, informed the management.

"We have had a good two months with Bhushan steel. Some of the synergies have started kicking in. We have started moving extra slabs to Kalinganagar from Bhushan. There is a lot of alignment going on. Bhushan is getting benefits of Tata Steel coal, shipping and benefits from marketing and sales of our company. At the same time, Bhushan has value-added steel which is helping Tata Steel," said Narendran.

During the quarter, the company's capex spent was Rs 19 billion which is in line with the FY19  Rs 70-80 billion capex guideline of Tata Steel.
 

Regarding the joint venture with ThyssenKrupp, the management said it hopes to complete the Joint venture formation by end of FY19.