MOIL shares edge up on higher production and sales in Feb

Share price of state-run mining company Manganese Ore (India) Limited (MOIL) inched 2.9 percent higher on Friday after the company recorded a 10 percent on-year jump in its February output.

The company recorded its manganese ore production at 1.31 lakh tonnes, up 10 percent YoY, while sales stood at 1.32 lakh tonnes, up 19 percent YoY over February 2022.

MOIL is a Schedule-A Mini-Ratna Category-I Central Public Sector Enterprise (CPSE) under the administrative control of the Union steel ministry. The Mini-Ratna Category-I CPSEs are distinguished by their consistent profitability over the past three years and a pre-tax profit of at least Rs 30 crore in any of the last three years, coupled with a positive net worth.

It is the largest producer of manganese ore in the country, with a contribution of around 45 percent of domestic production. The company has a target of doubling its production to 3 million tonnes by 2030. It operates 11 mines across Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh and is looking to exploring opportunities in Gujarat, Rajasthan and Odisha as well as other areas in Madhya Pradesh.

MOIL's financial performance has struggled for the last couple of quarters with the company seeing decline in both its topline as well bottom-line growth. In Q3FY23, the company’s net profit slumped 68 percent on-year to Rs 40 crore, while it improved sequentially by 45 percent. Sales declined 17 percent on-year to Rs 302 crore. It stood at Rs 236 crore in the second quarter. Operating profit fell significantly by 196 percent YoY at Rs 55 crore while margin reduced to 18 percent compared to 45 percent recorded in Q3FY22.

The company had declared an interim dividend of Rs 3.00 per share for its investors for the financial year 2022-23.

Recently, it announced a price hike of 8 percent for all ferro grades of manganese ore with a manganese content of Mn-44 percent and above from February.

The share price has declined 11 percent in the last year. At 10.47am, the scrip traded 2.5 percent higher on the NSE at Rs 154.35 apiece, while the benchmark Nifty50 was up 1.34 percent at 17,531.45 points.