Jindal Stainless Q2 loss at Rs 36 cr

Jindal Stainless Ltd (JSL) Friday reported a standalone loss of Rs 36.44 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2018.

The company had posted a profit of Rs 27.30 crore in the year-ago period, JSL said in a filing to BSE.

However, the total income increased to Rs 3,088.55 crore over Rs 2,622.18 crore in the September quarter of 2017-18.

"Our second quarter results are a reflection of the cyclical nature of core sector, including its determinants such as input prices and forex volatility.

"Our focus is to increase annual production by 15 per cent in the next two years to cater to the growing needs of domestic markets...Having become eligible to exit from Corporate Debt Restructuring Scheme (CDR), JSL expects to be out of CDR by end of 2018-19," Managing Director Abhyuday Jindal said in a statement.

The company said it built up inventory in the first quarter to support a planned maintenance shutdown in the September quarter. This, along with steep hike in nickel prices during June quarter impacted sales of finished inventory in the second quarter, thereby causing inventory losses.

"These factors slowed down the overall EBIDTA for the second quarter. The production volumes for the quarter and first half of the fiscal stood at 0.2 MT (million tonne) and 0.46 MT, registering increase of 2 per cent and 22 per cent respectively, as compared to the year-ago periods," the statement said.