Tata Steel Q3 profit seen down 58% at Rs 210 cr: Poll

Tata Steel's third quarter consolidated profit after tax is seen falling 58 percent year-on-year to Rs 210 crore, according to the average of estimates of analysts polled by CNBC-TV18.

Total turnover may fall 4 percent to Rs 35,400 crore in December quarter from Rs 36,735 crore in the year-ago period. Operating profit is expected to fall 17 percent year-on-year to Rs 3,330 crore and margin may decline 150 basis points to 9.4 percent in the quarter gone by.

Indian operations may struggle:-Sales volumes increased 3 percent Y-o-Y to 2.13 million tonnes in Q3 from 2.07 million tonnes.India’s EBITDA may be pegged back:a) 3-4 percent decline in domestic steel realizations due to pressure from imports and weak domestic demandb) Higher usage of purchased ore due to suspension of its iron ore mines during the quarterc) Suspension of ferro alloy unit

Tata Steel Europe (TSE)-Sales volumes may increase 1-2 percent year-on-year (down 3 percent Q-o-Q) to 3.25 million tonnes-EBITDA/tonne may be at USD 40 per tonne against USD 32 per tonne in the year-ago period and USD 46 per tonne in Q2FY15-Lower scale benefit may be seen on account of festive quarter-EUR/USD movement could also be a positiveSouth East Asian operations:-Margins may continue to suffer from low cost Chinese imports-On EBITDA per tonne could be back in the black from negative in Q2 Key issues to watch for would be resolution of captive iron ore mining issue.