Tata Steel swings to profit in first quarter

REUTERS - Tata Steel Ltd returned to profit in the first quarter of this year after a loss a year ago, helped by the ramp up of its Kalinganagar plant in the Indian state of Odisha.

Revenue in the quarter jumped 19 percent, aided by increased capacity in India and Tata's restructuring efforts in Europe, said Koushik Chatterjee, group executive director (Finance and Corporate).

The steelmaker's net profit came in at 9.21 billion rupees ($144.37 million) in the quarter ended June 30, compared to a loss of 31.83 billion rupees a year earlier. (http://bit.ly/2vdWpU5)

It said it expected to conclude a deal with the British regulator "shortly" to allow it to cut benefits for its 15 billion pound UK pension scheme. The scheme is the main stumbling block in Tata's efforts to merge its European operation's with Germany's Thyssenkrupp.

In the June-quarter of last year, Tata Steel registered a loss of 32.96 billion rupees related to the sale of its long products business in Britain to Greybull Capital in May 2016.

Analysts on average had expected a net profit of 10.43 billion rupees, according to Thomson Reuters data.

The company said total steel deliveries in the first quarter were up about 9 percent, with domestic deliveries accounting for 47 percent of the total.

Ahead of the results, Tata's shares rose as much as 4.5 percent to a six-year high.

($1 = 63.7950 rupees)

(Reporting by Krishna V Kurup in BENGALURU. Additional reporting by Maytaal Angel in London.; Editing by Jane Merriman and David Evans)