Welspun Corp Reports 89 Per Cent Drop in Q2 Profit

Mumbai: Welspun Corp (WCL), the flagship company of the Welspun Group, on Tuesday posted an 89 per cent decline in profit after tax (PAT) at Rs 5.2 crore for the second quarter of the ongoing financial year (2014-15).

The company had registered a PAT of Rs 45.5 crore for the corresponding quarter a year ago, WCL said in a release issued in Mumbai on Tuesday.

Sales grew 10 per cent to Rs 2,398 crore in the quarter under review as compared to Rs 2,179.1 crore in the same quarter last year.

"We have a strong order book in excess of 1 million tonnes and in addition to that, we have submitted bids for around 4 million tonnes. The improved demand-supply balance in the global market should help our realisation and margins going forward and we are confident that this will translate to better financial results in the next year," Welspun Corp chairman B K Goenka said.

Going forward, the uptick in North American and South American market (especially the US), appears to be sustainable with the outlook looking promising in the next year and beyond, he said.

For Indian plants, the export market would continue to be the major driver in the near term, he said, adding, "As far as the domestic market is concerned, we expect some of the anticipated projects to become business relevant in the medium term."

The plate and coil division became operational in the second quarter of FY15, largely for captive consumption, and it is expected to continue operations in the third quarter as well, he said.