Tata Steel partly-paid shares frozen at 10% lower circuit

The Company has fixed February 19, 2021 as the record date for the purpose of determining the holders of partly paid-up equity shares to whom the Call notice will be dispatched for payment of the Call

Tata Steel partly paid (PP) shares were locked in 10 per cent lower circuit at Rs 239.25 on the BSE on Wednesday after the company’s board approved making of the first and final call of Rs 461 (comprising Rs 7.5 towards face value and Rs 453.5 towards securities premium) per partly paid-up equity share, on 77.6 million outstanding partly paid-up equity shares of face value Rs 10 each, issued by the Company on a rights basis.

The company's board of directors has fixed February 19, 2021 as the record date for the purpose of determining the holders of partly paid-up equity shares to whom the Call notice will be dispatched for payment of the Call. The Call payment period will open on Monday, March 1, 2021 and close on Monday, March 15, 2021, the company said.

Meanwhile, shares of Tata Steel were down 3 per cent at Rs 680, falling 6 per cent from its intra-day high of Rs 724 on the BSE. The company has reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 3,698 crore in the December quarter (Q3FY21) as against a loss of Rs 1,029 crore in the corresponding period last year on the back of increased revenue, which was aided by both higher steel prices and volumes.

The company’s net sales in the period under review stood at Rs 38,806 crore, up 12 percent from same period last year on improved demand for steel in the domestic market. The company’s consolidated earnings before, interest, taxes, depreciation and ammortisation (EBITDA) in the quarter gone by stood at Rs 9,540 crore, more than double of Rs 3,659 crore in the same period last year. Consolidated EBITDA per tonne, a measure of profitability, was amongst the best at Rs 13,876, as compared to Rs 8,396 in Q2'FY21 and Rs 5,003 in the year-ago quarter.

The company's management said the recovery in the global and Indian economy has led to sharp improvement in steel demand in India. The investments in infrastructure and recent policy developments, to drive economic growth, should drive steel demand in India. Given strong market conditions and success with deleveraging, we have restarted work on the pellet plant and the CRM complex at Kalinganagar which will help in reducing costs and improving revenues, the management said.