Tata Steel Q3 net falls 69% to Rs 157 cr on cheaper imports

Tata Steel Ltd posted a 69 percent drop in quarterly net profit as a raw material crunch curtailed domestic production and a flood of cheaper imports hurt margins at both its European and Indian operations.

The company posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 157 crores for the quarter ended Dec. 31, down from Rs 503 crore a year earlier, the Mumbai-based company said in a statement on Friday.

A string of mining stoppages in recent months led to a number of the company's iron ore mines being shut during the quarter, causing its plants to operate below capacity.

Consolidated net sales for the quarter were down 8.5 percent at Rs 33,324 crores.