SAIL posts 72 jump in profits

Domestic steel heavyweight Steel Authority of India Ltd inched closer to becoming a 10 billion company posting a 21 per cent jump in turnover for the financial year ended March 31, 2007.

Domestic steel heavyweight Steel Authority of India Ltd SAIL inched closer to becoming a 10 billion company posting a 21 per cent jump in turnover for the financial year ended March 31, 2007. The PSU registered a turnover of Rs 39,189 crore as against Rs 32,280 crore in 2005-06 while its net profit for the year was up 55 per cent at Rs 6,202 crore.

SAIL8217;s last quarter results for the year were no less flattering as its turnover jumped by 14 per cent to Rs 11,534 crore while net profit was up by 72 per cent at Rs 1,902 crore. The company8217;s EBITDA margins also improved considerably from 26.5 per cent in 2005-06 to 32.3 per cent in 2006-07.

SAIL8217;s annual steel production reached a new high of 12.6 million tonne mt in the just concluded financial year on the back of 3.25 mt of saleable steel production in the last quarter. During the year, SAIL was able to meet all its iron ore requirement from its captive mines whose production went up by 2.6 per cent at 24 mt in 2006-07.

8220;We are fully geared up to implement its modernisation and expansion plans to meet the growing demand for steel in the country. The total value of projects already taken up for ordering/implementation has gone up to Rs 38,000 crore. In addition, the company also took the decision to expand capacity of the power plants at Bokaro Steel Plant by 500 mw as joint venture of SAIL and Damodar Valley Corporation DVC,8221; said SAIL chairman S K Roongta.

SAIL is negotiating an out-of-court settlement with the Jharkhand government for the Chiria mines leases and also working on a joint venture route to set up a 4 mt steel plant in partnership with fellow PSUs Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd RINL and National Mineral Development Corporation NMDC.

8220;The modalities of the joint venture with RINL and NMDC are being worked out and it could be a 40:30:30 ratio in favour of SAIL, RINL and NMDC. We are also in talks with the Jharkhand government for a speedy resolution to the Chiria mines issue and they have promised to provide us with all our ore requirement for Bokaro Steel Plant and IISCO for the next 50 years. We, however, have differences on the estimated needs of the company,8221; Roongta said.

SAIL has projected a double digit growth for the steel sector for the current fiscal and does not expect prices to go up substantially in the near future.