Crisil upgrades JSPL's credit rating to stable outlook

Private steel maker Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) today said ratings agency Crisil has upgraded its credit ratings to stable outlook.

"The credit rating upgrade by CRISIL comes soon after similar upgrades by CARE and ICRA," JSPL said in a statement.

The credit ratings of Jindal Steel and Power Limited have been upgraded by leading rating agency Crisil to stable outlook, it said.

"The credit rating by three leading rating agencies CRISIL, ICRA and CARE is a clear reflection of the promise for growth by JSPL. The company is well poised to continue the superlative performance and growth curve during this fiscal," Naushad Ansari, CEO, Steel Business, JSPL said.

During January-March 2018, JSPL's consolidated loss widened to Rs 424.69 crore from Rs 100.01 crore in the year-ago-quarter.

However, on standalone basis, JSPL has reported Rs 145 crore profit after tax during the last quarter of 2017-18 fiscal, Ansari said.

This has happened after quite number of quarters, he said adding "there are other areas also where the company has done well".

JSPL reported its highest ever steel production and sales in Q4 2018 and for the FY 2017-18 with the 5 Million Tonne Per Annum (MTPA) integrated steel plant at Angul getting fully commissioned.

The company's debt, Ansari said, has come down to Rs 42,000 crore from Rs 46,000 crore. The company looks to keep reducing its debt.

The consolidated steel production was at about 1.7 million tonnes in January-March 2018, a 32 per cent rise over the same quarter.

In Oman, Jindal Shadeed recorded its highest production of 0.46 million tonnes of crude steel during the said quarter as against 0.39 million tonnes in last quarter of 2017.

The company's mines at Mozambique produced 0.33 million tonne Run-of-mine (ROM) in last quarter of FY18. The Wongawilli mines in Australia continued their ramp up and produced 0.1 million tonne.