Elevated coal price a drag on margins of domestic base metal players: ICRA

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The increased price of coal continue to be a drag on the margin of domestic base metal players with no immediate relief in sight, rating agency ICRA said on Thursday.

In a recent note on the primary base metal industry, ICRA said that the earnings of the industry would continue to remain under pressure in the second half of the current fiscal, following a dull performance in the first half of FY'23.

"Elevated coal costs along with metal price corrections remain the key headwinds affecting the margins, with no immediate relief in sight," ICRA said in a statement.

On account of input cost pressures, the rating agency said it has revised its estimates of operating profitability of domestic players downward to 18 per cent in the current fiscal.

ICRA's operating profitability forecast for domestic players is almost 3 percentage points lower compared to its earlier forecast made in September last year and 10 percentage points lower compared to FY'22.

"In FY2024, while some respite is expected from better availability of coal linkages, the profitability is expected to remain range-bound at 19-20 per cent.

"Also, our base case does not factor in any significant adverse impact of another pandemic-led demand destruction in CY2023," Jayanta Roy, Senior Vice-President and Group Head, Corporate Sector Ratings, ICRA said.