Tata Steel quarterly results blow past estimates

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Tata Steel Ltd reported a bigger-than-expected fourth-quarter profit as product launches and an upturn in the manufacturing sector in Europe, its biggest market, helped sales grow at their fastest in three quarters and boosted margins.

Net income hit a three-quarter high of 10.36 billion rupees ($173 million) in the three months that ended on March 31, compared with a loss a year earlier. Net sales jumped 23 percent to 420.18 billion rupees.

Analysts on an average had expected a profit of 9.64 billion rupees on sales of 391.9 billion rupees, according to data from Thomson Reuters StarMine.

($1 = 59.7800 rupees)

 

(Reporting by Krishna N Das; Editing by Matt Driskill)