Tata Steel posts Q4 net loss of Rs.3,279 crore

Tata Steel on Wednesday posted a net loss of Rs.3,279 crore for the fourth quarter ended March caused by one-off costs associated with its European business.

The company said in a statement that fourth quarter earnings were impacted due to one-off costs associated with the Britain business, such as impairment of non-current assets (Rs.1,724 crore), employee separation compensation (Rs.239 crore) and restructuring and other provisions (Rs.856 crore), among others.

"While the pressure on the product prices continued during the quarter both in India and in Europe, our operations during the quarter were very resilient across most of the geographies and have reported much improved underlying performance compared to the previous quarter," said Tata Steel ED (Finance) Kaushik Chatterjee.

The company's consolidated revenues for the quarter in question of Rs.29,507 crore were down 12.4 percent from Rs.33,666 crore in the same period a year ago.

Earinings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), or operating income, during the fourth quarter of Rs.2,270 crore, increased 43.7 percent from Rs.1,580 crore last year.

From its India business, the company recorded a net profit of Rs.676 crore and EBITDA of Rs.2,188 crore on revenues of Rs.10,522 crore.

"Despite muted market environment, Tata Steel India operations recorded strong growth in the quarter and volumes grew by 16 percent on the back of growth in high valuesegments like auto and branded products," the company said.

--IANS

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