Jindal Steel and Power narrows June-quarter loss, beats estimates

REUTERS - Jindal Steel and Power Ltd, one of India's biggest steelmakers, beat estimates with a narrower first-quarter loss, boosted by higher revenue from its iron and steel business.

Revenue from Jindal's iron and steel segment rose about 26 percent to 47.13 billion rupees ($740.61 million).

The Delhi-based steelmaker reported a loss of 3.87 billion rupees for the April-June quarter, compared with a loss of 10.82 billion rupees a year earlier. (http://bit.ly/2vB7C3W)

The company, has posted losses for at least the last 10 quarters, said in May it expected to swing into profit by 2018/19, aiming to strengthen steel production by about 50 percent in fiscal 2018.

The company produced 1.26 million tonnes of crude steel in the quarter, compared with 1.19 million tonnes a year earlier.

Analysts on average had expected the steelmaker to make a loss of 4.33 billion rupees in the first quarter of this financial year, according to Thomson Reuters data.

($1 = 63.6370 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Krishna V Kurup in BENGALURU; Editing by Susan Fenton and David Evans)