SAIL third-quarter profit surges 14-fold on record production

(Reuters) - Steel Authority of India posted on Thursday a more than 14-fold surge in third-quarter net profit, topping estimates, as the company clocked in record production of saleable steel and crude steel.

Net profit came in at 6.16 billion rupees ($86.25 million) for the three months ended Dec. 31, compared with a profit of 431.6 million rupees in the previous year, the country's second-biggest steel company by assets said.

This is above analysts' estimate of 5.63 billion rupees as net profit, according to Refinitiv Eikon data.

Revenue from operations rose 3.3 percent to 158.36 billion rupees, the New Delhi-headquartered company said.

Crude steel production jumped 10 percent, while saleable steel production rose 5 percent, the company said.

 

($1 = 71.4240 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Chandini Monnappa in Bengaluru, Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)