Steel Authority of India Ltd reported a lower consolidated net profit of Rs 422.92 crore for the December quarter, 22 percent lower than Rs 542.18 crore in the same quarter last year, dragged due to inventory costs.
Revenue from operations for the quarter stood at Rs 23,348.64 crore, down six percent from Rs 25,042.10 crore a year ago, SAIL said in an exchange filing on February 12.
SAIL's revenue from its Bhilai plant stood at about Rs 6,500 crore, down 12.1 percent, while that of Rourkela and Bokaro units came in at Rs 5,863.3 crore and Rs 6,003.6 crore, respectively.
The Centre in January shelved disinvestment of Salem Steel plant, the company's stainless steel unit, following lack of interest from bidders. In 2022, privatisation of SAIL's Bhadravathi plant was also scrapped due to inadequate bidder interest.
Revenue from Salem Steel plant jumped 16 percent to Rs 515.2 crore in the quarter.
"The consistent efforts by the company towards increasing its volumes have had a positive impact on the financial performance despite the significant decline in the price realization during the quarter," said chairman Amarendu Prakash.
Crude steel production in the quarter came at 4.75 million tonne versus 4.71 million tonne reported in the same quarter last year. Sales volume fell to 3.81 million tonne as compared to 4.15 million tonne in Q3 Fy23.
The public sector unit also declared an interim dividend Rs 1 per equity share of Rs 10 each. The record date for the purpose of payment of interim dividend is February 20 this year.
Investment by SAIL has been raised to Rs 6,300 crore for 2024-25, from the revised and budget estimates of Rs 6,000 crore for the ongoing fiscal, according to 2024-25 budget documents.
Suspensions over commercial deals
Last month, the steelmaker suspended two directors after Lokpal pointed out discrepancies in two deals conducted by SAIL. It also has placed 26 numbers of below board level officials of the company on suspension with immediate effect.
SAIL's dealings with Venkatesh Infra Projects and Avon Steel Industries are under the scanner. Investigation in both cases has been handed over to Central Bureau of Investigation. The probe has to be completed within six months.
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