Jindal Stainless loss narrows in Q2; eyes selling of assets

Debt-laden Jindal Stainless today reported a narrowing of its standalone net loss at Rs 188.05 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2015.
The company had posted a net loss of Rs 255.23 crore in the year-ago period, it said in a BSE filing.
Total standalone income of the company declined by 52 per cent to Rs 1,601.65 crore in the July-September quarter this fiscal from Rs 3,303.77 crore in the same quarter of 2014-15.
Its total expenses were also down by 53 per cent to Rs 1,525.77 crore from Rs 3,223.06 crore during the quarter under review.
In the filing, Jindal Stainless said over the last few years, it has been incurring losses due to which its net worth has "fully eroded" and to build up its net worth the firm will sell some of its assets.

"The company is taking necessary steps towards enhancement of net worth through better utilisation of its production facilities and monitisation of certain assets.

"Accordingly, the accounts have been prepared on the going concern basis, keeping in view the optimism on changing market conditions," it added.
In a separate filing, the firm said its shareholders approved the proposal of issuing equity shares worth Rs 250 crore and Cumulative Redeemable Preference Shares/Optionally Convertible Redeemable Preference Shares worth Rs 800 crore to the Corporate Debt Restructuring lenders.
During the quarter, the Punjab and Haryana High Court approved its plans to restructure businesses, a move aimed at boosting profitability and paring debt.

The objective of the scheme, which got board approval in December, is to unlock value for shareholders to increase profitability, reduction of debt and improvement of the serviceability of debt.
The steel maker has a debt of around Rs 8,500 crore, a company source said, adding that this will come down by Rs 5,000 crore post-restructuring.
Shares of the company today rose by 9.70 per cent to settle at Rs 53.15 apiece at the BSE. The results were announced after market closing.