With good steel demand, SAIL's profitability improvement continues

While steel demand and outlook bodes well, improving product mix should help sustain the gains in margins

SAIL continues to build on the gains it has seen during the past one year led by regular improvement in its performance as its much-delayed expansions started getting commissioned. The company’s reported EBITDA (operating profit) per tonne at Rs 7,877 during the June 2018 quarter (Q1) is a significant improvement over Rs 86 in the year-ago quarter and an increase of 13 per cent sequentially. It was also higher than Rs 7,400-7,600 levels anticipated by brokerages. This is also at the highest levels since March 2010 quarter. While volume growth remains strong led by expansions and strong demand, it is