Tata Steel shines bright

Tata Steel had hit a new 52-week high yesterday at Rs.601.50 and today too it hit a new high at Rs.616.50 within seconds of its opening for trade.

The company posted a bumper set of numbers for Q1FY18 mainly on the back of operational efficiency supported by growth in Europe and exceptional income earned on account of stake sale in Tata Motors bringing in Rs.3785 crore.

Tata Steel ended the quarter with a consolidated net profit at Rs.933 crore, up over four times from Rs.209 crore posted in previous Q1. The profits would have been much higher but for the one-time provision of Rs 617 crore mainly for mining related litigation and employee expenses.

Revenue increased 19% (YoY) at Rs 29,557 crore on healthy volumes, mainly on account of its new plant at Kalinganagar. Branded products and retail sales contributes 48% to total sales and this showed a growth of 19%.

EBITDA was up 52% at Rs. 4974 crore and margins rose from 13.2% to 17%. European operations did the best – this region’s EBITDA was up 63% mainly on the back of improved market conditions while that of Indian operations grew 31%.

The company’s gross debt rose by Rs 4,798 crore to Rs 87,812 crore last quarter due to a foreign exchange impact, inventory build-up ahead of GST and seasonal trends in Europe. The net debt was significantly lower at Rs 71,703 crore due to build up in cash reserves to fund the €550 payout as part of the British Steel Pensions settlement.

The company is in advanced discussions with the BSPS (British Steel Pension Scheme) trustee, the pension regulator and the pension protection fund and is hopeful of reaching a final agreement shortly