JSPL posts Q1 loss of Rs 339 cr; mulls selling non-core assets

Jindal Steel & Power (JSPL) today reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 339.26 crore for the April-June quarter owing to higher depreciation and finance costs.
The Naveen Jindal-led firm had posted a net profit of Rs 418.13 crore in the year-ago period, it said in a BSE filing.
Consolidated total income of the company declined to Rs 4,426.32 crore in the quarter under review from Rs 4,687.33 crore in the same period a year ago, it added.
In anticipation of the poor results, JSPL shares today fell by 5.58 per cent to settle at Rs 77 apiece on the BSE.

JSPL said it is planning to sell its non-core assets to reduce debt burden.
"Company is also in the midst of taking concrete steps to reduce its working capital and strengthen its financial by exploring various avenues to reduce its debt. Sale of non-core assets and listing of subsidiaries are few of options which the company is vigorously pursuing to reduce debt in 2015-16," it added.

On the loss, the firm said: "Consolidated PBT and PAT continues to be impacted due to higher Depreciation (Rs 747 crore) and finance cost of (Rs 852 crore)."
In the June quarter, steel production grew by 37 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to 1.1 million tonnes (MT), which was possible due to enhanced capacity utilisation of Angul and Oman Steel plants.

JSPL sold 1.1 MT of steel in Q1 2015-16 registering a growth of 39 per cent Y-o-Y.
The firm said its realisations continue to be under pressure due to unabated import of steel from China, Korea and other countries.
However, sequentially the steel and power producer narrowed its consolidated net loss.
In the January-March quarter of 2014-15, JSPL posted a consolidated net loss of Rs 519.30 crore against a net profit of Rs 402.50 crore in the year-ago period. Total income fell by 7.6 per cent to Rs 4,525.59 crore in Q4 of 2014-15 from Rs 4,898.48 crore in the same quarter of 2013-14.

On Jindal Power Ltd (JPL), it said in Q1 2015-16 due to lack of captive coal (as coal mines were de-allocated on March 31, 2015) and lower merchant prices impacted PLF (plant Load Factor). EBITDA for June quarter was 170 crore compared to 389 crore in Q1 2014-15.
EBITDA declined due to lower utilisation of plant and higher coal costs. Coal availability through E-auction has now improved and JPL is able to procure coal at competitive prices. This should help in progressive improvement in PLFs of JPL in 2015-16, it added.