SAIL Posts Loss Of Rs 1,231 Crore In March Quarter

New Delhi: SAIL, India's largest domestic steel maker, on Monday reported a standalone net loss of Rs 1,230.93 crore for the quarter ended March 30, 2016, hit by challenging market conditions and a decline is sales realisation.

The 'Maharatna' firm had clocked a net profit of Rs 334.22 crore for the corresponding period a year ago.

Total standalone income of the firm declined 2 per cent to Rs 11,371.66 crore in the January-March quarter of last fiscal year as against Rs 11,590.55 crore in the year-ago period, SAIL in a regulatory filing.

Total expenses of the public sector undertaking were higher at Rs 13,273.65 crore as compared to Rs 11,183.66 crore during the quarter under review.

The loss after tax for the quarter was due to "reduction in net sales realisation to the extent of 19 per cent", SAIL said in a statement.

"The challenging conditions faced by domestic industry received some respite after introduction of the conducive policy measures by Government in the form of Safeguard duty and MIP," SAIL chairman P K Singh said.

SAIL witnessed better figures in last quarter of 2015-16 and is targeting to complete the balance modernisation and expansion with a focus on energy saving methods, enriching its product mix and introducing customer centric processes, he added.

In the October-December quarter of 2015-16, lower sales on account of "huge surge in imports of low-priced steel" from countries including China saw the steel giant log a massive Rs 1,528.7 crore standalone net loss against a profit of Rs 579.1 crore in the corresponding quarter the previous year.

SAIL said it witnessed an all round improvement in performance in the March quarter clocking record sales of 3.79 million tonnes (MT), which is the highest ever in a quarter by the company and higher by 20 per cent over corresponding period.

Management initiatives towards cost reduction and improved inventory management also contributed to the improvement in financial parameters.

Expenditure per tonne of saleable steel came down by about 10 per cent during January-March as compared to the December quarter on account of reduction in cost of production, higher volumes and other management initiatives, the firm said.

For the entire year 2015-16, SAIL's net loss stood at Rs 4,137.25 crore against a net profit of Rs 2,092.68 crore in 2014-15 on account of reduction in NSR, higher interest and depreciation charges, it said.

Total income was also down at Rs 39,086.24 crore as against Rs 45,730.36 crore the previous year.