India's Tata Steel posts Q1 profit rise on lower costs

INDIA’S Tata Steel on Wednesday (Jul 31) reported a 51 per cent rise in first-quarter profit as lower costs helped offset stagnant domestic demand.

The country’s second-biggest steelmaker by market capitalisation said its consolidated net profit rose to 9.60 billion rupees (S$13.3 million) in the three months ended June 30, up from the 6.11 billion rupees it earned last year.

Input costs fell over 7 per cent to 206.42 billion rupees, leading to an 11 per cent decline in total expenses.

Tata Steel’s cost initiatives drove strong growth in profit, said Sneha Poddar, vice president at Motilal Oswal Financial Services.

However, the company’s India operations, which is its largest, reported a 7 per cent fall in June-quarter revenue, hit by dip in sales volumes as the Tata Group company made lesser deliveries in the country.

The decline in revenue was due to weak volume growth, Poddar added.

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The fall in the India business revenue lead to an 8 per cent drop in overall revenue from operations to 547.71 billion rupees.

The Indian government’s spending in infrastructure and manufacturing had boosted sales volumes in the previous few quarters on strong demand but remained stagnant in the April-June period. REUTERS